The star, at least at the media level, is always her. Federica Pellegrini, one of the best swimmers ever, who will be Italy's flag bearer in the opening ceremony in Rio. Pellegrini, who in recent days has posted photos on Instagram showing the precarious conditions of the accommodation for the athletes of the Rio Olympic village, is no longer a huge favorite, but, at her fourth Olympics, twelve years after the silver medal in Athens , can still point to those medals which, however, eluded her in the London expedition, even if in the 200m freestyle she will have to contend with the American Katie Ledecky.
Behind the swimmer, over 300 Italian athletes of all disciplines will parade. The other swimming star will be the 1500-year-old Gregorio Paltrinieri, who is aiming for gold in the XNUMXm freestyle, after winning the last world championships in the discipline. Filippo Magnini, Pellegrini's fiancé, is also battling with some hope of medals, now at the last dance.
Tania Cagnotto is also aiming for a medal, even if gold, given the terrible competition from Chinese female divers, seems very difficult, who is looking for her first Olympic joy after the fourth places in London and after an endless string of medals collected among Europeans , his home garden, and World Cup.
Moving away from the swimming pools we meet an athlete who is unknown to most, but who has an excellent chance of taking home some medals: he is the wrestler Frank Chamizo, Cuban by birth, but a naturalized Italian. Chamizo is currently European and world champion in his category, that of 65 kg, as well as in first place in the ranking.
A concrete hope of medals, as always, comes from fencing, and above all from women's foil. The eternal Valentina Vezzali will be missing, who this time failed to qualify, but there will be Elisa di Francisca, gold medal in London, and Arianna Errigo, who instead took home the silver after an all-Italian final.
Among the men, the now 37-year-old Aldo Montano still stands out, a well-known face of gossip and television, capable of winning medals in his discipline, the saber, in all the last three Olympics. In the foil, many hopes are placed in the thirty-two year old Andrea Cassarà from Brescia.
For both it could be the last Olympics, just as Rio will probably mark the end of Clemente Russo's Olympic adventure. The heavyweight boxer, even if he is not considered among the favorites of the eve, will aim to bring home another medal, after the silver medals in Beijing and London.
Moving from the ring to the road, another who will certainly aim for the big target is the captain of the Italian road cycling national team Vincenzo Nibali who, paired with Fabio Aru, will have to contend above all with Alejandro Valverde. In tennis, one can hope for the Errani-Vinci women's doubles, who recomposed himself for love of country after a few years.
These will be the brightest Italian stars in the sky over Rio, and the athletes to watch more carefully. In the hope that, as happens almost every time, a new unknown idol, someone whose name we've never heard before, will give us the joy of a surprise medal.
