Cagnotto, Conti, Clapcich. This afternoon, at the Foro Italico, there was a generous slice of Italian success and a tasty appetiser of the atmosphere expected at Rio 2016. Casa delle Armi was the scene of the presentation of the Giulio Onesti Prize 2016 by the Onesti Foundation, which awarded joint first place to the World one metre springboard diving champion from Kazan, 2015, Tania Cagnotto, and sailors Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich, stars of the 49er FX class in 2015. The three Italians succeed the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, who, last year in Rome, personally collected the award named in memory of the historic president of the Italian Olympic Committee.

Once again the Olympic spirit was felt during this year's awards: there were, in fact, many members of the Italian team heading for the Brazilian Games. The honour was given to the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, present at the Foro Italico together with General Secretary, Roberto Fabbricini, and Deputy Secretary, and in charge of Olympic preparations, Carlo Mornati and Franco Carraro from the Giulio Onesti Foundation-AONI. Representing the Minister of Education, University and Research, Stefania Giannini, was, the Director General for student, integration, participation and communication of the Ministry, Giovanna Boda.

"Everyone knows who Giulio Onesti was, states Malagò - and how much our movement is indebted to him. We owe CONI's very existence to him and this evening is a chance to give due recognition to three truly great female athletes who last year gave so much to our sport. " The hall saw an emotional Tania Cagnotto, set to take part in her fifth Olympics, as did her father Giorgio, take to the stage: "I am truly honoured to receive this award, stated the athlete from Bolzano, I’m glad to be here with so many athletes with whom I will share the Rio Olympics. Good luck to everyone, we will try to cheer each other on. We hope that these Olympics will be the best one, for now. "
Then it was the turn of the two sailors: "In Rio, promised of Clapcich, we will give it our all, I hope it is a good omen for all the athletes with whom we will share this experience." "It is a great honour to receive this award alongside a great athlete like Tania", explained Giulia Conti. It was also an opportunity to reward young students who stood out in the 5th edition of the Onesti competition, organised by the Giulio Onesti Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The award in the sport category went to the hearing-impaired students of the Magarotto school of Turin, while Rome's "Cristo Re" Institute students were awarded in the musical film category. "This year's theme was 'The Olympics I would like' and we hope that this issue remains topical - concluded Carraro - the winners are schools from Turin and Rome, Turin experienced the 2006 Olympics that helped change the city greatly. On one side Rome represents a beautiful memory from 1960 and on the other a dream that sooner or later will come true. This is the hope... ".

The winners of the contest "Onesti in Sport" were awarded during the ceremony: the State Institute of Higher Secondary Education "Magarotto" from Turin and the Institute "Cristo Re" from Rome. In particular, the young hearing-impaired students of the "Magarotto" school were deemed victorious in the category dedicated to sport during the 5th edition of the competition organised by the Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Their video clip "Sports signs", the jury explained, "perfectly embodies integration one of the fundamentals of the Olympic spirit: interpreting Olympic sports with sign language and mime, they managed to enclose an important social message in 60 seconds, accompanied by the great technical effort required to create it. The "Magarotto" Institute of Turin is a vocational school dedicated to the deaf and hearing-impaired children, without distinction or differences, where diversity is an added quality. " Whereas the "Cristo Re" Institute triumphed in the musical film category. In "We are heroes", a song written, set to music and performed by the students, also the creators of the accompanying video clip, explained the judges, "the genuine emotion of doping-free sport, thanks to the mix of rap and pop genres is illustrated. Iconically, in the video the winner of a boxing match is stripped of his medal and his podium, physically made up of boxes and boxes of illegal substances.