Girlfriend or dining companion? It was the swordsman who experienced the dilemma Simone Mencarelli at the Italian Under 23 Championships in Rende. He had already put on his neck the seventh gold medal in a tricolor event and the following day he attended the women’s competition, whose final pitted his girlfriend against him Lucrezia Paulis, from Ariccialike him, born in 2003, a Vittoria Silettiborn in 2004, with whom she shares training sessions at Victoria gymnastics, under the guidance of father Maurizio. «I watched the assault from afar – says Mencarelli junior – to suffer a little less. In both cases I would have still been happy. Inside I was rooting for Lucrezia (“I understand it” Vittoria will admit), but on the outside I tried not to let anything leak out. We met when we were little, at the Gpg camps, and we have been together for four years. We are both bearers of the Fiamme Oro. In Rende you won your first title and winning together was wonderful”. The first step of the podium was missing for Simone since the Under 20 gold in 2023.
«This season – he recalls – was more complicated than the others, being my first among the greats, and I really needed a result like that. In the semi-final against Tommaso Raffaele I was 8-2 behind and recovered. At 14 all, I placed the last hit. In the final I faced Filippo Armaleo, who had beaten me at the Mediterranean Cup, and I redeemed myself.” Vittoria Siletti, athlete of the Fiamme Azzurrefresh from team silver at the World Youth Championships in Riyadhwas in his third final assault on an Italian championship, after those of 2023 among the Under 20s and 2022 among the Under 17s. «I was aiming for success – he explains – this year there have already been many podiums. I’m sorry about the outcome of the final. I started back and recovered. I was down by a jab and with 3” left to go she landed the final blow. The start was too conservative and I should have shot more freely, like when I was forced to come back. On previous occasions against Lucrezia I had always felt good and this first defeat stings a bit”.
