Third force who? Ugolini-Giubilei win Olympic test event in Marseille

From third force inside the blue Nacra national team to top of the class: the athletes of the Air Force Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei won in Marseille the Olympic test event among the Nacra 17, at the end of a star-studded week where they brought home five victories out of 13 races, winning the medal race and finishing ninth as their worst finish. Behind them are Finland’s Kurtbay-Keskinen and Britain’s Gimson-Burnet. Victory with a chill, because on the penultimate day the Italians ran into a bad collision, through no fault of their own, that could have seriously jeopardized the continuation of their regatta.

Looking forward to the World Championships in Den Haag, Aug. 10-20, they, the youngest of the three top Italian Nacra 17 teams, are the Italian crew to beat as well as the one that at this point is virtually ahead in domestic selection toward Paris 2024, Marseille for sailing. Overshadowed for the moment by the reigning Olympic champions, Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, and Bissaro-Frascari .

Ugolini Giubilei – A “noisy” convocation.

Their names among those summoned to the test event had been, in part, a surprise, with the call that came in a tense moment between the IVF and Luna Rossa, on which the following are engaged Ruggero Tita and Vittorio Bissaro. With only one crew per nation being convocable for the test (as it will be at the Olympics), Ugolini and Giubilei, in light of the results of the World Cup stages in Palma and Hyeres, undermined reigning Olympic gold medalists Tita-Banti and their main antagonists, Bissaro-Frascari. Winning the test event, with some consistency and solidity, certifies a “comeback” that started from afar.

They started their Nacra 17 journey quietly, as one of the youngest pairs in the national team, in the shadow of the two more experienced blue crews mentioned above.

We remember them at the 2018 CICO in Genoa, when they ran into a spectacular scuffle right in front of our camera, but they were already showing good things that year. Gradually they have shortened the gap, brought home two Under-23 world titles (2018 and 2019), and in 2021 and 2022 they also put two world silver medals on their trophy case that have enshrined them inside the Nacra fleet of the “big boys” for good, with the knowledge that they are playing on a level playing field with everyone, including inside the Italian national team. The ultimate exploit in this 2023, where they collected two bronze medals, at the Princesa Sofia Trophy in Palma and Hyeres Week, and now the gold medal at the test event.

Nacra 17 – Who will go to the Olympics?

What happens now? After the Marseille test event is over, the Olympic sailing classes are focusing on the highlight of the season, the World Championship in Den Haag, which also awards some passes to nations ahead of the Olympics.

It will in a sense be the moment of truth, because in addition to the confrontation with the other international crews for Ugolini and Giubilei there will again be the confrontation with compatriots Tita-Banti and Bissaro-Frascari. Should the winners of the Olympic test be confirmed ahead, the road to the Olympics for the other two blue crews would be a bloody uphill climb. Nothing is decided yet, but Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei have sent a strong and clear signal: we are there, and we can win against anyone.

A test event tinged with blue

Nacra’s is not the only medal collected by Italy at the Marseille test event. Also very important was Chara Benini Floriani‘s bronze among the ILCA 6, formerly Laser, a class in which Italy has struggled to find continuity of results in recent years, and bronze in the iQFoil board with Nicolò Renna.

The young Italian laserist finished third behind the very strong Dutch Marit Bouwmeester (silver in London 2012 and gold in Rio 201) and Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom (bronze in Rio and gold in Tokyo). For Nicolò Renna, on the other hand, this is yet another confirmation after the European title he won last May, which from an Olympic perspective projects him as one of the papal favorites for domestic selection.

Chiara Benini Floriani: “I had an excellent week in Marseille, crowned by a beautiful fourth place in the Medal Race that allowed me to take bronze. This was my first medal in an international regatta of this level, and it definitely gave me the charge for the big goal of the year, which is the World Championships in The Hague where the nation will be selected to participate in the next Olympics. Now I’m going to take some rest, but I’ll be back to work soon to improve even more. There are many things to improve, but I am confident that I can do even better.”

Mauro Giuffrè