Italian training partners Gregorio Paltrinieri and Gabrielle Detti have both been named top 3 finalists for Italy’s prestigious Gazzetta Sports Awards.
Fans voted from among 10 nominees and chose 3 finalists in each of 8 categories. In the Male Athlete of the Year category, Paltrinieri, the Olympic champion in the 1500 free, is currently the second-most votes among fans with 32%. That ranks him behind the 64% earned by volleyballer Ivan Zaytsev, but well ahead of Olympic gold medalist Judoku Fabio Basile (4%).
Paltrinieri’s gold-medal swim in Rio in the 1500 free was also nominated as a finalist for the single greatest performance of the year by an Italian, receiving 53% of the vote. Niccolo Campriani received the second-most votes (35%), specifically for his performance in the 10-meter air rifle competition at the Olympics – the first of his two gold medals in Rio. Vincenzo Nibali, with 12% of the vote, is the 3rd finalist, nominated for his win in cycling’s Giro d’Italia.
Gabrielle Detti, who is Paltrinieri’s distance training partner, is receiving a 64% share of the Breakout Performer category after taking bronze medals in both the 400 and 1500 freestyles at the Olympics.
Diver Tania Cagnotto, winner of a silver in the Olympic 3-meter synchro competition and bronze in the solo event, was nominated as a finalist for Female Athlete of the Year.
Voting is still open, among the top 3, at sportsawards.gazzetta.it.
1) In a recent poll, swimming has been reckoned the most practised sport of the Country.
2) Last year Paltrinieri won the Gazzetta’s prize, even surpassing the famous rider Valentino Rossi
3) Paltrinieri and Detti (called the “different twins”) are still young (born in 1994) and great testimonials in the pool and outside the pool, so I think that swimming are getting more and more popular in Italy in the next years.