Italy nominates its nine Shotgun athletes for Rio 2016

Chiara Cainero, Massimo Fabbrizi, Giovanni Pellielo and Jessica Rossi, who all earned at least one Olympic medal in the past, will be part of the team, while four other shooters will experience an Olympiad for the first time.

FITAV, the Italian Shotgun Federation, officially named the nine shooter that will take part in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

They are:

Diana Bacosi, 32 years old, Skeet Women.

Antonino Barillà, 28, Double Trap Men.

Chiara Cainero, 37, Skeet Women.

Massimo Fabbrizi, 38, Trap Men.

Marco Innocenti, 37, Double Trap Men.

Valerio Luchini, 33, Skeet Men.

Giovanni Pellielo, 46, Trap Men.

Gabriele Rossetti, 20, Skeet Men.

Jessica Rossi, 24, Trap Women.

Cainero, Fabbrizi, Innocenti, Pellielo and Rossi all have previous experience at the Games, with four of them also reaching the podium.

Massimo Fabbrizi placed 2nd in the Trap Men event at the London 2012 Olympics, where Jessica Rossi collected the Trap Women Gold medal. Chiara Cainero won the Gold in Beijing (CHN) in 2008, while Giovanni Pellielo counts three medals in his resume: 2 Silvers, collected in Athens (GRE) and Beijing, and 1 Bronze, pocketed in Sydney (AUS).

Rio 2016 will mark the first Olympic participation for Double Trap Men shooter Antonino Barillà, and for the two Skeet Men athletes, Valerio Luchini and Gabriele Rossetti, the holder of the ISSF World Cup Final title. Diana Bacosi, who collected the Gold medal at last year’s World Cup stage in Al Ain, where her teammate Chiara Cainero finished 2nd, will also participate in his first Olympiad.

“As usual, we present one of the most numerous Shotgun team.” Said Luciano Rossi, Vice-President of the ISSF and President of the FITAV, the Italian Shotgun Federation. ”We are the only country with nine Olympic quotas, and we surely named the best team possible. Our athletes and coaches will do their best for sure, not only for the national federation or for the National Olympic Committee, but also for the whole country!” Concluded Rossi.

The coaches, Andrea Benelli, Mirco Cenci and Albano Pera, also named 5 reserve shooters: Valerio Grazini and Silvana Stanco for the Trap events; and Riccardo Filippelli, Luigi Lodde and Katiuscia Spada for the Skeet events.

Marco Vettoretti

Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl

Source - ISSF Website