"Destination Rio", Malagò and Mornati present programs for the 2016 Olympic Games

CONI

Tessera040Destination Rio 2016. A picture of the Olympic aims 648 days from the XXXI edition of the Summer Games, the testimony of the efforts made by the Olympic Committee to concretely support the athletes and the federations in the march towards the event that will be held in Brazil from 5 to 21 August 2016. In Casa delle Armi the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and Deputy Secretary and Head of the Sport and the Olympic Training, Carlo Mornati, in the presence of the Secretary General, Roberto Fabbricini, explained the initiatives, the resolutions and the synergies to be put in place to give centrality to Italian sporting activity and major sports figures. Forty-one Italian athletes, including five Olympic athletes, medalists and belonging to Olympic clubs, as well as a significant representation of Federal Presidents and Secretaries, Scrutineers, the leaders of CONI Servizi, President and Chief Executive Officer Franco Chimenti, Alberto Miglietta and several members of the Board.

 

President Malagò issued the challenge, without forgetting the critical issues. "Winning a medal today is more difficult than four or eight years ago, but that should not be an excuse: if all goes well, we'll take the credit, but if it goes wrong, we'll take our responsibilities. However, I am optimistic. The support team is very good, there is a nice atmosphere, a modern and innovative business management, and there are many fields in which we can hit targets like getting to the finals. This is life, this is sport. We will not make excuses if we were to win 15 medals, but there are considerations that make me feel optimistic. I think that we are very competitive in many disciplines and I want to emphasize that thanks to cost containment and spending review measures we saved more than €2.9 million, a bonus that will be immediately distributed to the Federations, but only for Olympic or high-level activities management. We must make a virtue of necessity and invent something different. We Italians have imagination, and from this point of view it is obvious that we suffer more in terms of financial gigantism. We need to enhance our technical centers and synergies through Olympic training centers. The main thing is to have a clear conscience: our credibility amongst the institutions is the fruit of the excellent work carried out to date. We have less than two years before Rio Olympic Games, and many other games will be held in the coming months with qualifications for various sports."

 

Deputy Secretary Carlo Mornati, as head of the Olympic Preparation, provided details of the measures taken with a view to Rio 2016. "This project aims to create a sort of hub to let all the components effectively interact on their road towards the Games. There are three support areas to be monitored: first, the financial area, then the technical-scientific area, and last but not least, the healthcare area. In the past year the Federations have been provided with €137.4 million for the Olympic and High-Level Training activities, in addition to €4.2 million in grants related to the Olympic Club and €3.25 million for Military Sports Groups: it is also important to remind the costs, amounting to approximately €13 million, and the investments of over €2 million for the Olympic Training Centers in Rome, Formia and Tirrenia. These figures show the commitment of the Olympic Committee, which extends to scientific and technical support thanks to an evaluation of physical skills through strength, endurance and biomechanics tests, not to mention the optimization of equipment and or racing vehicles thanks to the synergies adopted in order to develop high technological specialization.

 

We will also offer support to Italia club, because we believe that permanent meetings are vitally strategic. Lastly, the healthcare support: the Institute of Medicine is constantly available to athletes, and in a few weeks, it will be possible to have an MRI scan directly in the premises. There will eventually be a new concept of the Olympic Club: the 86% of London Olympic Games medalists was part of it, last year it was made up of 104 athletes, and this year the number increased to 121, 71 of which are newcomers. The "Olympic Promises" category, aimed at those athletes who are considered by the Olympic Committee, in consultation with the Federation, of particular interest for the future, will be established. Mornati then distributed to the 41 Italian athletes present the "Athletes' Card", another new feature: it will allow members of the Olympic club to freely use all of the facilities made available by the Olympic Committee in Parco del Foro Italico and the Institute of Medicine and Sports Science and also to take advantage of conventions - even personalized - with commercial partners.

 

Here are the names of the 41 Italian athletes present at Casa delle Armi:

Carlo Molfetta (Taekwondo), Marco Galiazzo, Michele Frangilli e Mauro Nespoli (Archery), Daniele Lupo e Paolo Nicolai (Beach Volley), Rossella Fiamingo, Enrico Garozzo, Irene Vecchi, Lucrezia Sinigaglia, Ilaria Bianco, Rossella Gregorio, Mara Navarria, Giorgio Avola e Francesca Quondamcarlo (Fencing), Stefania Pirozzi, Gabriele Detti, Federico Turrini, Chiara Masini Luccetti, Erika Ferraioli, Aurora Ponselè, Giada Galizzi (Swimming), Romano Battisti, Francesco Fossi, Pietro Ruta e Andrea Micheletti (Rowing), Vincenzo Mangiacapre, Valentino Manfredonia, Guido Vianello (Boxing), Marco Aurelio Fontana (Cycling), Antonino Barillà e Daniele di Spigno (Shooting), Francesca Clapcich, Vittorio Bissaro e Silvia Sicouri (Sailing), Marta Pagnini, Andrea Stefanescu, Camilla Patriarca, Alessia Maurelli, Sofia Lodi, Arianna Facchinetti (Gymnastics Rhytmic).