Two athletes from Ferrara, who grew up in the Canoa Club Ferrara, won the Junior and Under 23 World Championships in Liptovsky Mikulaš, Slovakia. They are Marta Bertoncelli and Elena Borghi who, together with Elena Micozzi, were awarded world champions for the Canadian women’s team race.
They are joined by another “made in Ferrara” award, that of Andrea Nardo of Vigarano Pieve, who instead wins silver with the junior kayak team. Michele Pistoni, Nicola Pistoni (Cc Ivrea) and Andrea Nardo (Cc Bologna) recorded a time of 94.24, behind France (90.69), while the bronze medal went to the Germans (95.61).
On the first day of competition at the Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross World Championships for the junior and under 23 categories, on the Ondrej Cibak Whitewater Stadium course, Italy won a total of three medals – one gold, one silver and one bronze – in the team events.
The success of the Canadian under 23s came from the well-established Italian team composed of Elena Borghi, Marta Bertoncelli (CS Carabinieri) and Elena Micozzi (Marina Militare) from Subiaco, who won the world title in the category with a time of 110.90. Germany, silver in 119.74, and Spain, bronze in 119.75, were eight seconds behind.
“Investing in young people is very important, even more so in sports. The results are coming and are increasingly coming from the Ferrara athletes. I thank Elena Borghi, Marta Bertoncelli and Andrea Nardo, their families, their trainers and all the staff of the Canoa Club Ferrara for the results obtained. Ferrara is becoming known and appreciated in the world also thanks to their very important recognitions”, is the applause of the mayor of Ferrara, Alan Fabbri, who was present on Sunday at the inauguration of the new pier at the headquarters at the Oasi di Vigarano.
“Giving recognition and value to sport, to all sports, is one of the objectives we have set ourselves, ensuring adequate spaces to grow talents and, more generally, to train the new generations who, through the sporting discipline, learn about teamwork and the value of victory. Over the years, canoeing has been obtaining important recognition, making Ferrara increasingly proud also in this discipline”, adds the Sports Councillor, Francesco Carità.
“This is a great start,” says Marta Bertoncelli on behalf of the young winners from Ferrara, contacted by phone immediately after the victory in Liptovsky Mikulaš. “We were missing the world title for the under 23 category and now we have managed to get it. Winning the individual race is great, but winning the team competition is unmatched, because you share the emotion together.” Currently both she and Elena Borghi are in the Carabinieri, but “the place of the heart remains Ferrara and the Canoa Club,” adds the new world champion. “The reality of Ferrara has taught us a lot, we started from scratch and there we learned not to give up: being able to bring honor to our city today with a world title is wonderful, just as we are very happy for Andrea Nardo: his is a debut at the world championships.”
The individual races for the individual titles will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Ferrara will also be represented at the Olympics: next week Marta Bertoncelli will also go to Paris in view of the Olympic Games that will be held from July 26 to August 11, exactly one hundred years since the last time the city hosted the event.
