Paris. If Tokyo was a record, Paris is well worth an Oscar. “8 and 1/2”, he replied John Malago to those who asked him to give a rating to Italy’s 2024 Olympics, a few hours before the ceremony.
The number 1 of the Coni smiled, the ‘Fellini-esque’ thought perhaps just a conditioned reflex; he is certainly satisfied with what “the Italian men and women” did at the Paris Games. Forty medals, like in Tokyo but with “more quality” because from ten golds, ten silvers and 20 bronzes of three years ago, we have moved on to 12 golds, 13 silvers and 15 bronzes of the summer of 2024.
With the icing on the cake placed at lunchtime on a Sunday in August by the blue team led by Julio Velasco, who, for the first time, gave a gold to Italian volleyball. In front of the TV there was also the President of the Republic, the number 1 fan who, in this Olympics, did not miss a single set of Paola Egonu and her teammates.
“I was convinced that we would win the gold,” Mattarella said in a phone call to Malagò a few minutes after the decisive point. And it sounds a bit like President Pertini’s “They won’t catch us anymore” at the 1982 World Cup final. “They were amazing. There are no words to express how good they were. I ask you to extend my most sincere compliments to the federal president Manfredi, to the coach Velasco and to all the girls. Congratulations to you,” President Malagò, “and to the entire Italian team. I look forward to seeing you at the Quirinale.” The appointment is set for September 23, at 11 a.m., for the return of the tricolor flag, waved in the closing ceremony by the (also in life) medal-winning couple, Gregory Paltrinieri e Rosella Fleming.
“For Greg - explained Malagò – a necessary choice. For what he has done and for what he will do. He has all the prerequisites to be the flag bearer at Los Angeles 28”. We will see, first of all, if the Olympian will continue to provide emotions in the pool and/or in open water. Certainly the swimmer and the fencer were among the protagonists of a new Olympics to remember, which leaves Italy the legacy of “confirming Italy’s leading role on the world sports scene. We are perhaps the most multidisciplinary country, we have won medals in 20 different disciplines”, highlighted the number 1 of the Coni, reeling off the other data from the 17 days of competition (since Rio 2016, the streak of 37 five-ring days in which Italy has won at least one medal has been open).
In Paris, the number of finals has grown from 67 to 79″. Then there is also the “strange ranking of fourth places, in which we came first”. With the secretary general of CONI and head of mission Carlo Mornati, Malagò is thinking of a way to celebrate them. “In any case, whoever comes fourth is part of the Olympic club” which, after a well-deserved vacation, will begin to deal with the preparation for the Californian Games. First on the road to the history of Italy and CONI will be the Milan Cortina Olympics, whose inauguration is scheduled for February 6, 2026. “Now it’s our turn,” is the message from Malagò, who however does not know if he will be at the ceremony in which the Winter Games will be declared open. Because the rule of mandates still needs to be clarified: Malagò’s third term ends in May 2025. If ”politics” does not change its mind, also allowing CONI what was made possible for the federations and sports bodies, that is, being elected president for a mandate after the third but on the condition of exceeding 67 percent, in Milan Cortina Malagò will no longer be head of the National Olympic Committee. “I hope that politics uses common sense”, the hope of the number 1 of Coni, who was disappointed by the Minister of Sport. Andrea Abodi recently underlined that Malagò’s mandate is about to expire. “It was out of place. It’s not just a question of style. I would never have done it”, this is how Malagò greeted journalists.