Team Italy in Brazil to Prepare for Outdoor Season and Rio 2016
Text courtesy Gabriele Giovine / Images courtesy Ilario Di Buò
Italy’s winter season just ended with a championship-leading 10 medals at the world indoors, including five world titles, but the nation’s athletes have already moved on to the next challenge. Barely two weeks later, the Italian recurve squad flew to Brazil for a two-week training camp.
London 2012 Team Olympic Champion Marco Galiazzo said it was cold back home, but in Brazil the team “can shoot outdoors” with no problem, while getting used to the “heavy” humidity.
It's the second time in just six months the Italian men and women breathe the air of Rio after the test event last September. The goal on this trip is simple: Prepare for the summer's Olympic Games.
"The work here is specific archery training. We chose Brazil because the Olympics will be held here,” said Italian head coach Wietse van Alten. “We have chosen this period because it is straight after the indoor season and a good preparation for the outdoor season, because we can work in warm temperatures while at this time in Europe there’s still snow.”
“What could be considered as a big plus is that potential athletes get familiar with the travel and coping with the time difference in this place," Wietse added.
At the Copenhagen 2015 World Archery Championships, the nation qualified for the Olympic Games with a full men’s team quota – Mauro Nespoli, Michele Frangilli and David Pasqualucci won silver in the recurve men’s team event there – and a women’s individual spot thanks to Guendalina Sartori, in the secondary tournament.
"The training field is large, sunny and surrounded by nature,” said Turin 2011 team World Archery Champion Guendalina. “We’ve found an atmosphere completely different from Italy: We left home under the snow and here it is hot and humid.”
“I’m pretty sure this training will be very useful: It is important to familiarise with the wind and this climate. Anticipating the summer season will give us advantages in the competition.”
Sartori and the rest of the Italian women have a chance to increase their quota from one to three at the third leg of the 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup hosted in Antalya, Turkey, from 13 to 19 June.
The event is also the last chance for teams without individual quota places in either the men’s or women’s competitions to secure spaces.
