World Championships, 4x100 medley relay: Italy in the final and at the Olympic Games for both men and women

In Paris 2024, the Italia Team will participate in all swimming relays. That was the result of the final day of the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, where the Italian 4x100 medley relay team advanced to the final in both the men's and women's competitions.

Michele Lamberti, Ludovico Blu Art Viberti, Federico Burdisso (ANSA photo), and Alessandro Miressi clocked a time of 3:34.20, securing their spot in the final stage of the world championship event as the sixth-fastest team. Taking into account the 3:33.54 time achieved by Thomas Ceccon, Nicolò Martinenghi, Piero Codia, and Manuel Frigo in Fukuoka 2023, in the worst-case scenario, they would finish 15th out of the 16 spots available for the Olympic Games.

“The goal was to get into the final and we achieved it,” explained Alessandro Miressi. "Personally I controlled it a bit too much. Maybe I could have done a little less. Anyway, I am a bit tired and we all are, some more than others. We took a risk, the medley is always a tricky event: all teams always try their hardest. The guys did well.”

Mission accomplished also for Francesca Pasquino, Arianna Castiglioni, Costanza Cocconcelli and Chiara Tarantino, in the final finishing seventh with a time of 4:02.62. Thanks in part to the 4:00.67 of Margherita Panziera, Martina Carraro, Ilaria Bianchi and Sofia Morini in Fukuoka, the Italian women were able to finish at least 12th in the race to Paris 2024.

“We fully achieved our goal,” says Costanza Cocconcelli, “we got to the final in the medley relay and reached Paris. This morning the coaches had told us to try to get to the final too, which is the minimum goal of these World Championships, to be sure of Olympic qualification. We did well, we did it. We didn’t manage it in Fukuoka so this also means we have taken a small step forward”.