Bronze medal! Italy is on the podium in the world mixed-teams race and for this world championship event Abu Dhabi there couldn’t have been a better epilogue than this.
After fifth place in the general individual medal table and first place in the individual women’s medal table, here is the medal that completes the Italian masterpiece: third place in the mixed team competition and a calling card for another, possible medal in Paris.
The Italian mixed-team began its world journey with Holland, the country that Kim Polling left after recently acquiring an Italian passport. She has lived in Turin for years, she recently married Andrea Regis who, among other things, made her her mother.
But fate, as is well known, is blind and not only did it pit Italy and Holland against each other in the first round, but it also wanted to twist the knife in the wound and after the 3-3, with the blue points from Polling , Capanni and Giovanni Esposito, drew the 70 kg category for the play-off.
Kim Polling won again with Hilde Jager, wazari by sumi gaeshi and then burst into tears. A way to vent the emotional storm that she has experienced and, perhaps, she is still experiencing.
France was too strong for us, but the blue pride imposed the flag point with a brilliant Thaunany Capanni who forced Priscilla Gneto to shido-3.
We go to injury time and Hungary is overwhelmed by the blue wave with Simonetti who places de ashi barai’s wazari in Czerlau, Pirelli wins the shido match with Krisztian Toth (3 to 2) and Capanni does the same with Reka Pupp ( 3 to 2), then Manuel Parlati prevails over Bence Pongracz with two wazari, a gaeshi and a seoi nage.
The final for the medal, with Uzbekistan, is anything but simple, but Capanni starts very well and places two wazari in Keldiyorova, followed by Giovanni Esposito who finds the winning o uchi gari (wazari) amid the sparks of the match with Ahadov. It’s Pedrotti’s turn with Matnyazova. The Uzbek does uchi mata: ippon! But the care system recognizes diving: hansokumake. And we go to 3 to 0. Lorenzo Rigano faces Sharofiddin Boltaboev and this time it is the Italian who is disqualified: 3 to 1. It’s not over. Asya Tavano and Rinata Ilmatova get on the tatami and the Friulian puts the extra gear needed for the occasion and takes the lead with an o soto gari-wazari, but she is not satisfied and continues to grind. We get to an action on the ground and from the tangle of bodies comes out a clapping hand, it’s Ilmatova who surrenders to Asya Tavano’s waki gatame and Italy can celebrate. The mixed-team team is bronze medalist at the 2024 world championships in Abu Dhabi. And this too is history.
“Well done! – the voice of Laura Di Toma, technical director of the Italian national team who gives a summary at the end of the match, is an explosion – they were all very good. The girls in particular put into practice the great work they did, but this third place as a team is exceptional, with the young people who were ready and will be even more so in the next four years. I give a special round of applause to Kim. It was very difficult for her, we all understood it, but on her tatami she was a great, great athlete. And Mungai, the captain, was also very good, always knowing how to speak at the right time and in the right way, keeping the team at the top. Good job, everyone!”.
“What Italy… oh my. -said Francesco Bruyere, women’s head coach- Winning a team medal is something incredible, sharing the victory is much nicer than celebrating it alone. Today these guys gave us an immense emotion and for this we can only thank them. We knew we could win with anyone, but facing a team race after an individual world championship is complicated, there are those who have won and are relaxing, there are those who have lost and are demoralized and there are those who are bruised. However, these guys reacted in an extraordinary way and made themselves available to fight to the best of their ability. In all of this, the fresh reinforcements arriving from Italy were fundamental, Erica, Tata, Lorenzo, Nick and the whole team in the stands who shouted and fought with us. A special mention for Kim who agreed to fight her national origin to be the tipping point in the victory. This is the medal that comes at the conclusion of a historic world championship and it is the medal of all of Italy, a medal that comes from the base, in the societies, to reach the top of the world”.
