Clean sweep of medals in archery, plus podium finishes in the half marathon and table tennis
Athletics
Convincing half-marathon debut for Leading Airman Giuseppe Gerratana, who in Turin on Sunday 27 March finished 2nd in the seventh edition of “La Mezza di Torino” with a good time of 1h04’39”. The Sicilian cross-country and steeplechase specialist placed 2nd behind the Kenyan Ekidor Simon Dudi and ahead of another Kenyan athlete, Bett Amos Kipkemboi. Today's race, which had Piazza San Carlo as its start and finish location, had a maximum limit of 2000 competitors and is considered a key stepping stone ahead of his marathon debut at the Volkswagen Prague Marathon on 8 May 2022.
Table tennis
In Biella, over the same weekend, the Italian Table Tennis Championships took place, in which, in the men's doubles, Leading Airman 1st Class Mihai Bobocica placed 2nd, while in the singles he won the bronze medal; also stepping onto the podium were Selected Leading Airman Marco Rech and Leonardo Mutti, who placed third in the mixed doubles.
Canoe
During the International Solkan Canoe Open, Leading Aviator Francesca Malaguti competed in her first race of the year in the waters of Solkan (Slovenia) and finished just off the podium in fourth place.
Beach Volleyball
In Rosarito (Mexico), during the Beach Volley Pro Tour Elite16 – a leg of the world circuit featuring the sixteen best pairs in the world – Leading Airman Paolo Nicolai finished in ninth place paired with athlete Samuele Cottafava. Chief Airman Adrian Carambula, paired with Leading Airman Enrico Rossi, finished the tournament in fifth position, while the pair of Leading Airman Daniele Lupo and Chief Airman Alex Ranghieri failed to get past the qualification round.
Archery
The selection event to determine the teams that will take part in the upcoming international competitions took place in Cantalupa (TO). In the Men's Recurve, it was a clean sweep for the Air Force athletes: gold medal for Leading Airman First Class Mauro Nespoli, silver medal for Airman Selected Federico Musolesi, and bronze medal for Leading Airman First Class David Pasqualucci. Leading Airman First Class Marco Galiazzo finished in fourth place. In the women's event, there was a sensational performance from newly enlisted Airman Selected Karen Hervat, who eliminated all her opponents match after match, beating multiple Paralympic champion Elisabetta Mijno 6-4 in the semi-final and Lucilla Boari (recent Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo) of the Fiamme Oro 6-2 in the final.
