Cycling, Italy bronze in the pursuit. Men's volleyball and water polo Ko

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Italy is a bronze medallist in the track cycling team pursuit. But it is one of the few positive news of the day that saw the defeats of the women's quartet again in the cycling track pursuit, the elimination of Tortu and Desalu from the 200 metres and Simonelli from the 110 hurdles, and the defeats of the men's volleyball (3-0 by France) and the Settebello, beaten on penalties by Hungary. The Italian men's water polo team was defeated 12-10 (regulation time had ended 9-9). There was disappointment for coach Sandro Campagna's team, which had taken an 8-6 lead at the start of the last quarter of the semi-final match. Hungary will now challenge Croatia for a place in the final.

But back to the bronze medal in track cycling. In the final for third and fourth place, the Azzurri - Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna, Francesco Milan and Jonathan Milan - beat Denmark. It is the 27th medal for Italy: nine gold, ten silver and eight bronze. The gold in the team pursuit was won by Australia, which overcame Great Britain in the final. "This bronze is worth much more than gold because when things go differently there are only a few left. It is never easy to repeat at the highest level". Filippo Ganna comments on the result in the track team pursuit at the Paris Olympics. "It is always easy to get on the winning bandwagon. In Tokyo we were a bit surprised and after yesterday we fell to many... but nothing is taken for granted especially at these levels - underlines Ganna - Today we have to say thank you to our teammates, to the staff. To the people who always bent over backwards, sacrificed their families and everything, and were with us in training camp. And thank you to these other three guys who always keep you coming back'.

Only fourth, however, was the pink quartet defeated by Great Britain in the pursuit. The Italians Elisa Balsamo, Martina Fidanza, Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini came fourth in the final, beaten by Great Britain who stopped the clock at 4'06"382. For Italy, the gap was almost three seconds at 4'08"961.

In the semifinals of the men's volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Italy was beaten by France three sets to zero (25-20, 25-21, 25-21). On Friday, 9 August, at 4pm, the Azzurri will play the final for bronze against the USA. The final for the gold, Saturday 10 August, France-Poland.

Italvolley once again stops one step short of the dream. On the day of Italian disappointments, from Tortu to Simonelli out of the finals, to Dell'Aquila's knockout in taekwondo, with the partial redemption of the bronze medal in cycling by Ganna and his teammates, Fefè de Giorgi's national team also surrendered to Andrea Giani's France. The race for the most precious medals ended with a 3-0 defeat: in the final with Poland on Saturday there will be the transalpines. To the Azzurri remains the 'finalina' on Friday with the United States, as well as the gold curse, although the years pass and the interpreters change. The palmares, in fact, says so far three bronze medals and as many silver medals, the latter starting with that of '96 in Atlanta with the Netherlands, when in Italy they were talking about the 'Generation of Phenomena'. On the bench there was Velasco, on the court De Giorgi and Giani; the last two, today, found themselves against each other, as has often happened in recent years, with the coach of France able to take revenge after the semifinal of the 2023 European Championships lost in Rome. And in a stadium, the South Arena in Paris, which was boiling over for the hosts, Giannelli and his teammates fell after the masterpiece comeback achieved in the quarter-finals against Japan. The aftermath of Monday's 3-2 loss made itself felt: so much energy, both physical and mental, was expended to recover a match that by the third set saw the Azzurri players already on the plane back to Italy. Then four match points saved and the rest is history with De Giorgi's team playing for the pass to the final against France. The atmosphere in the arena was inflamed, whistles and 'booing' accompanied every serve of the Azzurri (less incisive than usual), while in the third set, strengthened by the advantage, the French fans even sang the anthem, anticipating a party that would begin shortly thereafter. And yet the start of the match boded well, but then Italy failed in the key moments of the match. At the start of the first set, the balance reigned until 14-14, when France then conquered, and maintained, its advantage thanks to Ngapeth's plays. On the other hand, the Azzurri were imprecise at the service, while Giannelli was unable to develop an offensive game that could put Giani's team in difficulty, and they closed 25-20. On the other hand, there were many regrets in the second set where Italy grew in almost all the fundamentals, despite France remaining superior in reception. Despite this, Michieletto and his teammates led 16-13, but were unable to manage the partial, also due to a general nervousness towards the refereeing direction of Mr. Denny Cespedes, for a yardstick of judgement, according to the Azzurri, not very uniform. France went ahead 25-21, while the third set was never in dispute and the score did not lie: 25-21 again and the game, the match, was played on the wings of an enthusiasm heightened by the play of 'Monsieur Magique', born Ngapeth. Against the United States, for Italy, there will still be a chance to close the Olympics with a medal, cancelling the Tokyo zero concerning the metals won in team sports. An objective for which Velasco's women's team is still competing, because tomorrow they will face Turkey in an Olympic semifinal never played before in their history, with Egonu and her teammates who will try to get there where the Azzurri have failed.