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Twelve new champions enter the Walk of Fame

AT THE FORO ITALICO
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Eight new plaques for 12 great champions will enrich the Walk of Fame of Italian sport. At the Foro Italico, CONI President Giovanni Malagò, in the presence of Secretary General Carlo Mornati, Deputy Vice President Silvia Salis and Vice President Claudia Giordani, members of the Board and several federal presidents, unveiled the new tiles dedicated to Flavia Pennetta (tennis), Amedeo Pomilio (water polo), Giulia Quintavalle (judo), Marco Galiazzo (archery), Daniele Molmenti (canoeing), Antonio Tartaglia and Gunther Huber (bobsleigh), Carlo Molfetta (taekwondo) and the 4x10 km cross-country Olympians in Lillehammer 1994, Marco Albarello, Maurilio De Zolt, Silvio Fauner and Giorgio Vanzetta. "This is a wonderful recognition by CONI and the Italian sports movement," remarked an emotional Flavia Pennetta, queen of the US Open in 2015 and the first to unveil her plaque today, placed just a few metres from the Stadio dei Marmi. "In my career I have always tried to give my all for Italy, a small country that provides a lot of joy in sporting terms – and for this we must be proud." "In the year in which Parliament included sport in the Constitution," stressed Amedeo Pomilio, gold medallist with the Settebello at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, "to receive this recognition is the height of pride. To represent an example for the new generations is an honour and a duty." "It is truly a wonderful moment. I have made history in my sport as the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in judo, and today I thank the Federation and President Malagò for this wonderful recognition," said Giulia Quintavalle, an Olympian in Beijing 2008. "I have few words to describe the joy of this plaque. Thank you very much, it is an honour," added Marco Galiazzo, the first Olympic champion in the history of Italian archery in Athens 2004, a success he later repeated with the team in London 2012. "This walk features the great names of Italian sport, an example of athleticism and fair play," remarked Daniele Molmenti, Olympic champion in K1 in London 2012 and today technical director of the Italian national slalom canoe team. "I would like to continue to be an example: with this Walk of Fame, young people can remember what we have done for Italian sport". There was also great emotion for Antonio Tartaglia and Gunther Huber, Olympians in the two-man bobsleigh in Nagano 1998. "We are truly honoured," Huber admitted. "Two years ago at the Foro Italico I was reading the names in the Walk of Fame," added Tartaglia. "Today I am here too and I hope to be able to continue to help our youngsters." Representing the cross-country skiing relay, protagonist in Lillehammer 1994 of "one of the greatest feats in the history of the sport in front of 200,000 people," as President Malagò recalled, were Marco Albarello and Silvio Fauner. "We went down in history, and today I want to thank them for this wonderful memory that I hope will remain in everyone's heart." "A special thanks to the President, it is an honour to be among great champions in this Walk of Fame. Sport has given me so much and I hope to be able to transmit the same values," Fauner said. Closing the ceremony was Carlo Molfetta, Olympic champion in taekwondo at London 2012. "You realise what you have done thanks to these awards, which allow you to remain part of history forever. Today I am really happy," admitted the current national taekwondo team manager.

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