JOY. In Paris, the Bergamo native, paired with Santoro, wins a medal in the synchronized 3-meter springboard. On the podium until the third-to-last dive, the Italians slip to 5th place but recover on the last one. “I am very happy.”
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Bronze medal for the Italian diving pair composed of the Bergamo native Stefano Belotti and Matteo Santoro in the synchronized 3-meter springboard at the European Championships currently taking place in Paris. On the eve of this event, Belotti, an athlete born in 2004 representing Fiamme Gialle/Bergamo Tuffi, coached by the Bergamo native Davide Pasinetti, had declared his aim to reach the podium and the goal was fully achieved. Their journey (Matteo Santoro, 19 years old, from Rome, is registered with Mr Sport F.lli Marconi) started from the youth national teams, with junior titles won in 2022 at the European Championships in Otopeni and the World Championships in Montreal.
The final opens with two compulsory dives, a backward pike and a reverse pike, in which the two Italians immediately show good harmony and are second after the first dive and third after the second dive, with 96.60 points, behind the British pair composed of Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher (leading with 100.80) and the German pair Lou Noel Guy Massenberg and Jonathan Gisbert Schauser (second with 97.20).
The final comeback
The series of free dives starts in the best way for the Italians: the triple forward somersault and a half pike is worth 75.33 points, as the two exceed seven meters in height and ensure excellent synchronization until entering the water. Thus, Belotti and Santoro return to second place.
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In the fourth dive (quadruple forward somersault and a half) there is a slight flaw in the water entry, but the score (67.26) allows the two Italians to maintain a podium position and in the fifth round (triple forward somersault and a half tuck) the execution is good, but in the final part Belotti is more tucked than Santoro and the water entry is slightly excessive: the 66.30 points awarded by the jury drop the Italian pair to fifth place, thus for the first time since the start of the competition, out of the podium zone. In the last dive, the tension is very high: at least 80 points are needed to get back into medal contention. The Italians, with a double forward somersault and a half with two twists pike, earn 80.58 points, a score that allows them to surpass the two British pairs and win the bronze medal behind Germany and the neutral Russian team.
“Deserved medal”
“I am very satisfied with how the whole year went – explains 22-year-old Belotti, making his debut at the Paris event -. I moved from Bergamo to Rome and changed everything, then with calm and fun everything went well and I am very happy with the result.” “A hard-fought but deserved medal – admits Oscar Bertone, the National Team coach -: we knew we could recover with the last two dives and the boys were very good at staying focused. Belotti was tense in the last few days, but the two always train with a smile and represent the future for us. They are in the running for the 2028 Olympics, the bronze is an excellent starting point.”
