Francesca Palumbo from Potenza from the Air Force sports center graduated with the Italian national team, European champion in the women’s foil team event. The thirty-year-old athlete from Lucania was part of the quartet of foil players, led by the coach Stefano Cerioni and also composed of Arianna Errigo, Martina Favaretto and Alice Volpi, the three fencers who took to the main platform of the St. Jacobs Halle for the final against Poland (45-27). She thus won the eleventh medal for Italy on the last day of the 2024 European Championships in Basel. The Poles had overcome the French in the semifinals in the extra minute (41-40). The Italians had started by beating Austria (45-36). In the semi-final, Cerioni’s girls then dominated the match against Hungary (45-17), gaining the pass for the last act. Third place final Hungary-France 45-43
Samele fifth
In the men’s sabre, however, after the historic hat-trick in the individual competition, Italy’s run led by coach Nicola Zanotti stopped in the quarter-finals, eventually occupying fifth position. Luigi Samele, Luca Curatoli, Michele Gallo and Pietro Torre from Foggia surrendered with a score of 45-37 to Romania. In the rankings board, the Italian sabers first beat France 45-41 and then defeated Georgia 45-27, thus finishing in 5th place. «We didn’t get excited after the individual – commented captain Luigi Samele – and we won’t be discouraged by this missed medal. The European Championship is a lead-up to the Olympics and we come out of it with the awareness that our fencing level is high and that in Paris we can aspire to a result that reflects our value.” Turkey prevailed over Germany (45-42) to win the bronze.
The medal collection
Italy thus concluded the 2024 European Championships in Basel with eleven medals, winning the Nations medal table. In the end five gold medals arrived: Marini in the men’s foil, Errigo in the women’s foil, Gallo in the men’s sabre, the women’s épée team (Fiamingo, Navarria, Rizzi and Santuccio) and the women’s foil team with Francesca Palumbo. Three silver medals: Foconi in the men’s foil, Curatoli in the men’s saber and the men’s épée team (Di Veroli, Santarelli, Vismara and Cimini). Finally, there were three bronze medals: Alberta Santuccio in the women’s épée, Luigi Samele in the men’s saber and the men’s foil team (Guillaume Bianchi, Alessio Foconi, Filippo Macchi and Tommaso Marini). The Genoa 2025 Organizing Committee, together with the president of the FIS, Paolo Azzi, received the flag of the European Fencing Confederation, chaired by Giorgio Scarso, yesterday during the official closing ceremony of the European Championships. And thus began the countdown towards the Genoa 2025 Absolute European Championships, which will return to Italy thirteen years after the last edition in Legnano.
