Olympic dreams, discovering the Azzurri: the young hopes of the men’s 470

Lhe Tokyo Olympics, rescheduled for the summer of 2021 from July 23 to Aug. 8, are near, and it is time for the blue expedition to start setting goals since the internal selection process is virtually closed. Italy has not won an Olympic medal in sailing since Beijing 2008, when came Diego Romero’s bronze in the Laser and Alessandra Sensini’s silver in the RS:X. For the Olympics in Japan, which for sailing will take place in Enoshima, Italy qualified in the women’s Laser, 470, RS:X and Nacra 17, however, qualification was not achieved in the men’s and women’s 49er as well as the men’s Laser. The Olympic team going to the Olympics is young and ambitious, on paper all of them can make it to the medal race and some even aim to medal. The best arrow in the blue bow is probably the Nacra 17, but there may be no shortage of surprises. We continue to find out, after Silvia Zennaro, with another crew of the blue expedition, Giacomo Ferrari and Giulio Calabrò of the men’s 470, young Italian hopefuls. Weekly, the Sailing Newspaper will present to you all the crews that will chase the Olympic dream in Tokyo.

470 Men, James and Julius believe in it

The choice for national selection in the 470 fell on a young crew, both 25 years old, but already with great prospects and excellent international results: Giacomo Ferrari and Giulio Calabrò, both from Rome. Over the past three years they have consistently finished in the top 10 at the World Championships (6th in 2017, 9th 2018 and 6th again 2019), in addition to placings at the European Championships (10th in 2017, 8th 2018) and 10th at the World Cup in Enoshima, Japan, the same race course as the upcoming Olympics. What can we expect from this pair ahead of Tokyo? The two athletes have brought the men’s 470 back to the positions that matter, the talent is there, entry into the medal race is the minimum goal of their Olympics, the icing would be to play for the podium but they do not yet start with the favor of the odds. One thing, however, is certain, the Italian 470, which has always been a boat where we have had great helmsmen, after a period of severe crisis that has lasted for almost 10 years now, is regaining consistency, also thanks to these two guys who are going to play for the Olympics in Tokyo.

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