Eleventh medal for Italy in Beijing with the silver of Omar Visintin and Michela Moioli in mixed-team specialty snowboarding. In front of the blue team, of only 20 cents, the Americans Nick Baumgartner and the new Olympic champion Lindsey Jacobellis; behind Canada with Eliot Grondin and Meryeta Odine, while the Italia 2 team made up of Lorenzo Sommariva and Caterina Carpano finished fourth. The latter fell when it was undergoing a strong recovery.
Moioli took the lead thanks to Visintin's 4 hundredths delay: but Jacobellis, who took the scepter from the Bergamo athlete in the individual competition, did not give up reaching her and then overcoming her. In the last few corners the American has recovered enough space for the decisive overtaking, up to the glide towards the finish line. While for the second Italian couple, Carpano came out of the gates with a disadvantage of 88 cents accumulated by Sommariva in his descent, but was quick to approach the group. After the glide on Odin, it was the Canadian who got up faster and continued the race by crossing the finish line in time for the bronze medal.
"The first objective has been achieved: we have exceeded the number of medals won in Pyeongchang (10, ed) - commented Giovanni Malagò, president of Coni -. We did it thanks to a discipline such as snowboarding where we have become a world power".
(Unioneonline / ss)
