Team selected for Krakow 2023, Giuffrida and Nespoli to be flag-bearers at the European Games. Olympic passes up for grabs in 11 disciplines

Odette Giuffrida and Mauro Nespoli will be the Italian flag-bearers at the third edition of the European Games set to get underway on 21 June in Krakow, Poland.

The announcement was made today by CONI President Giovanni Malagò at the National Board.

Giuffrida, silver medallist in judo (52kg category) at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and later bronze medallist in Tokyo 2020, this year took third place at the World Championships in Doha. In her glittering career she has also claimed a European gold medal in Prague 2020, a silver medal (Lisbon 2021) and a team bronze medal won in the very first edition of the European Games (Baku 2015).

Nespoli, meanwhile, is an Olympic medal winner in archery thanks to the team gold won in London 2012, but he has two further Olympic podiums in his trophy cabinet: team silver in Beijing 2008 and individual silver in Tokyo 2020. World team champion in 2017, he has also collected several world and European championship podiums including three European titles (individual in 2005, team in 2008 and mixed team in 2018). At the European Games, he clinched two golds in the mixed team in Baku 2015 and Minsk 2019, where he also won an individual gold and a team bronze.

The two flag-bearers will lead the Italia Team in the opening ceremony on Wednesday 21 June at the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium.

The Italian delegation, led by Alessio Palombi, is made up of 331 athletes (165 women and 166 men) who will compete in 25 of the 28 scheduled disciplines (Italy will not be represented in 3x3 basketball, beach handball or ski jumping). There will be three Italian Olympians on the team, which, in addition to Nespoli, will be able to count on Olympic shooting champions Gabriele Rossetti (skeet) and Jessica Rossi (trap); in total, there are 16 Olympic medallists or multiple medallists on the team.

Between 21 and 2 July – when the closing ceremony is also scheduled to take place at the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium – Krakow and Malopolska (a region located in the southern part of Poland) will host some 7,000 athletes representing 48 European Olympic Committees at 25 competition venues.

The 2023 edition will be particularly noteworthy because as many as 11 disciplines are scheduled that will qualify European athletes for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, while nine others will see Olympic ranking points put up for grabs.

In breakdancing, the b-boys and b-girls who win the Tournament will qualify for Paris; in artistic swimming, it will be the best duo to have not yet qualified who will claim a country’s quota spot. In archery, meanwhile, the best nation in the team event out of both men and women will qualify; the top two athletes by gender in the individual competitions and the best mixed team will also win a national quota place. Furthermore, the best athlete from each gender in each individual speciality of the shooting event will win a quota berth, as will the best athletes from each gender in skeet and trap in shooting. In diving, the winner of each of the four individual events will receive a country quota spot. The winning mixed doubles pair in tennis will also fly to Paris. In boxing, the best four athletes qualify in all the women’s categories with the exception of the 75kg class (for which the best two qualify), while for the men it will be the best two athletes for the 51kg, 92kg and +92kg categories and the best four athletes from the 57kg, 63.5kg, 71kg and 80kg categories. The best eight pentathletes per gender (maximum 1 per NOC) will also qualify for the Olympic quota. The national winners of the men’s and women’s rugby sevens tournament will also qualify. And finally, in canoe slalom, there will be qualification for the best athlete per gender in K1 and C1. Quotas will, however, only be awarded to nations not yet qualified after the Global Qualification, scheduled to take place in Prague from 7 to 9 June 2024.

Golds won in Athletics (Team Championships), Badminton, BMX Freestyle, Canoe Slalom, Speed Canoe, Judo (Team), MTB Cross-Country, Artistic Swimming, Modern Pentathlon, Fencing (Team), Teqball and Diving will also count as European titles.

Italia Team restarts from the 41 medals (13 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze) won in Minsk 2019 that earned them fourth place in the standings behind Russia, Belarus (both excluded in Krakow) and Ukraine. An era ago.