The competitions in the waves of Sinis in Sardinia ended over the weekend: the Italian took the shortboard title, which had not been awarded since 2019
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In the end it happened, despite the Covid involved, a judicial investigation which was then resolved for the best, the sponsor crisis and also the storms which in Italy now make us wait longer than usual: after four years there is a new Italian surf shortboard champion, what has now become an Olympic specialty. His name is Edward Pope and it is not the only one that last weekend, among the breeze of the Mini Capo in Sardinia – perhaps one of the most beautiful, consistent and reliable spots in the Mediterranean, and which ironically showed only a very small part of its potential – he sewed the tricolor on the chest, as the titles of all categories, male and female, have been awarded.
the surfing champions
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So here are the new Italian champions: Daniela Boldini is the new queen of women’s shortboard, Francesca Rubegni in the longboard and the colleague of the long boards Alessandro Demartini among men. Four athletes whose birth dates span two decades: from Edward Popewho is just 22 years old, a Francesca Rubegniborn in 1981 and about ten titles on the board, until the surprise Boldini: a 20 year old girl who has lived in the Canary Islands since she was a child. And speaking of the latter – making her debut in the Italian championship – it should be underlined that in the WSL professional rankings (44th), where she competes under the Canary flag, she is not far behind the national team starters Giada Legati (35th) and Emily Gussoni (26), with the difference that she scored points in just one match and not in three, as in the case of her colleagues.
the fioravanti case
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In fact, the choice of the Italian team by the national team coaches is based very little on national results, and much on those obtained abroad, where the level of competition is much higher. This is also the reason why to the uninitiated of this discipline it may appear strange as the strongest surfing champion in Italy, that is Leonardo Fioravanti, has never been Italian champion. Simply put, Leo is one of those athletes who competes in a higher category and it would be somewhat inappropriate – but a debate could be sparked on the topic – to see him wearing Lycra in the Italian sea. And indeed, at the time of the race call for the Mini Capo event, first name Surf Games 2023, the number 9 in the WSL world rankings was already flying to his new home on the Northshore of Oahu, Hawaii, to resume training for the new season. Yet this does not mean that the Italian level is in such a bad situation. Edoardo Papa established himself after several years of experience around the world. And he does it coming from Pescara, whose coast may be renowned for many things, but not for the waves. The image that comes out is that Italy can give a lot to surfing and can still produce athletes of great talent and tenacity even without an ocean or a particularly wavy sea in front of the house, but certainly by putting in the archer a great desire to do and above all training abroadin the midst of the waves that matter
towards 2024
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Finally, there is one last chapter to face, in what has been a year of redemption for the world of surfing competitions in Italy. In fact, 2022 ended in a daring way, with an investigation of which the Journal he also told happy epilogue, but also many races announced and then skipped. The junior championship lost a piece along the way, but this year it has made a comeback with four championship stages fully contested, albeit with a final thrill since the two Banzai events were able to take place (and with superb waves) only a few weeks ago. This time it was the fault of the very capricious weather conditions for the first nine months of the year, so much so that until June the only guarantee was Sardinia with the stages of Buggerru and Marinedda. Water under the bridge, as for the Open: last year a tour of three stops plus an overall was announced, but the final tally was zero. And Matteo Calatri once again found himself with the title obtained in 2019 in his hands. The sea, the aligned stars – read bureaucracy and organization – at the end of 2023 did the rest: championships won and titles awarded. Even if from many quarters the wind is the messenger of a request that has always been there and which would bring further revitalization to a movement that has grown and now has the coat of arms of the Olympic rings: no longer a single stage, but a structured Italian championship.
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