Bertolasi qualifies for the Olympic Games; Frattini is out by a narrow margin

A new Olympic pass has been obtained by Varese sport. It was won today by Sara Bertolasi, 28, from Busto Arsizio, who grew up in the Schiranna team, and who now competes for Canottieri Lario. The Italian athlete qualified for Rio 2016 with her crew, a women’s coxless pair (in rowing, it is the boat that qualifies, not the individual athletes, but Sara has always been an official member of the team, ed.).

One athlete that didn’t make it, by a few tenths of a second, is the veteran, Pierpaolo Frattini: the men’s eight were looking to make it into one of the first two places in the final race, in Lucerne (the venue of the second stage of the World Cup), but came third by a few centimetres, which means that the flagship of the Italy National Team will have to stay at home for the Games.

Bertolasi OK – Sara Bertolasi, who races with Alessandra Patelli from Padua, had to end the final race in the top four, and she did not disappoint. The two women tried to keep up with the leaders, on the Rotsee, and at the 900 m mark, they went ahead of everyone; then China moved into first place and won the gold medal, and, in a difficult finale, Bertolasi and Patelli managed to end in third place. For Sara, the Games in Brazil will be the second Olympics, after London 2012.

Frattini KO – There was nothing that Pierpaolo Frattini, who, at the age of 32, was aiming at his third Olympic Games, could do. The Italian eight was kept away from Rio because of less than 0.4 second, after they tried to make a comeback against Poland, who had led the race for a long time. Success went to the USA, who, in turn, had made an imperial sprint. Italy accelerated, overtaking Australia, but ended in third place, with a bittersweet bronze medal.