The Italian senior women’s team (ranked 2nd in the world) surprisingly won the Olympic gold medal in the recently ended Paris Olympics. The US (ranked 5th) won silver and Brazil (ranked 1st) took the bronze.
The Italians won all their games and sets except one, lost to the Reinas del Caribe, the Dominican Republic senior women’s team. The Dominican women won the second set of a game that went to four sets — 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-21 y 25-18).
The Dominican team was also able to win one set to the powerful Turkey team, ranked 3rd in the world. But the DR lost to Brazil and Netherlands and did not pass to the quarterfinals.
Italy defeated the title defending team USA (ranked 5th) in the gold medal match on Sunday, 11 August 2024. Taking an early and commanding lead, the Europeans wrapped up the contest 25-18, 25-20, 25-17, denying the chance for the US to defend their title.
Upon winning the gold medal, Argentinean coach Julio Velasco of the Italian team, acknowledged the loss to the Dominican team.
In the Olympics report on the win: “The Italians, whose previous best finish at an Olympic Games was fifth place, cruised all the way to the top of the podium without losing a set since their first game of the tournament against the Dominican Republic, where they fell short in the second before dominating 17 straight sets.”
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12 August 2024