On the last day of the European Championships in Paris, Simona Quadarella wins gold in the 400 freestyle: third after the first places in the 1500 and 800. Shortly before, Benedetta Pilato wins second place in the 50 breaststroke. Silver for Thomas Ceccon in the 100 backstroke. Second place for the women's 4x100 medley relay (Sara Curtis, Benedetta Pilato, Anita Gastaldi and Emma Virginia Menicucci) and for the men's 4x100 medley relay (Thomas Ceccon, Nicolo Martinenghi, Alberto Razzetti and Carlos D'Ambrosio). Italy second in the final medal table
Five medals arrive - one gold and 4 silvers - for Italy on the last day of competition at the European Swimming Championships in Paris. Simona Quadarella won gold in the 400 freestyle: it is the third of this edition for the Roman swimmer. In the 50 breaststroke final, however, Benedetta Pilato took second place. Silver also for Thomas Ceccon in the 100 backstroke. Both Pilate and Ceccon missed the gold by a cent. Silver also for the women's 4x100 mixed relay (with Sara Curtis, Benedetta Pilato, Anita Gastaldi and Emma Virginia Menicucci) and for the men's 4x100 mixed relay (with Thomas Ceccon, Nicolo Martinenghi, Alberto Razzetti and Carlos D'Ambrosio). Thanks to these podiums, Italy finished in second place in the European medal table with 13 gold, 15 silver and 15 bronze.
Silver for Benedetta Pilato
The first Italian medal of the evening came from Benedetta Pilato: at the European Championships in Paris, after the bronze in the 100m breaststroke, Pilato won silver in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 29"94. Gold, by a hundredth, went to the Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte. After the race, Pilato remembered the Paris Olympics, when she came fourth again by a hundredth. "This hundredth haunts me, I will never return to this place", she said with a smile. after winning silver at the European Championships. "I wanted to win, but I'm happy," she added.
Silver also for Thomas Ceccon
After Pilate, another silver medal came thanks to Thomas Ceccon in the 100 backstroke. The Italian swam in 52.28 and finished behind the Greek Apostolos Christou, who won the gold, by just one hundredth. Bronze to the Russian Pavel Samusenko.
Third gold for Simona Quadarella
After the two silver medals for the Italian team, a gold medal also arrived this evening: Simona Quadarella took first place in the 400 freestyle. The Italian swimmer finished with a time of 4:01.34. It is Quadarella's third gold at the European Championships in Paris: in addition to the 400 freestyle, she also won in the 1500 and 800. "At a certain point I didn't think I would win, because it seemed like my opponents weren't giving anything up. But I did it," said Quadarella after today's gold. The key to his victories, he added, "lies in consistency, in being able to always be there".
Silver for the women's 4x100 mixed relay
The third Italian silver of the evening came in the women's 4x100 mixed relay: Sara Curtis, Benedetta Pilato, Anita Gastaldi and Emma Virginia Menicucci finished second in 3'53"60 behind Great Britain, who outwitted the Italians in the final meters.
Silver for the men's 4x100 mixed relay
Finally, Italy won the last medal of this edition in the men's 4x100 mixed relay: silver for Thomas Ceccon, Nicolo Martinenghi, Alberto Razzetti and Carlos D'Ambrosio, who swam in 3'28"86, finishing second behind Russia. Bronze to France.
The final medal table
Looking at the overall medal table of the European Aquatics Championships in Paris (long course swimming, cross country swimming, artistic swimming, diving, high diving), the winner is Great Britain thanks to the 14 golds won, one more than Italy, which is by far first in terms of overall number of medals (43, ahead of the 32 of Russia and Germany). The blue loot is 13 gold, 15 silver and 15 bronze.
This is the complete medal table (gold, silver, bronze, total):
Great Britain 14-4-8-26
ITALY 13-15-15-43
Russia (Neutral Athletes B) 10-9-13-32
Germany 9-11-12-32
Hungary 5-9-3-17
France 4-6-5-15
Romania 3-0-0-3
Ukraine 3-1-3-7
Greece 3-1-1-5
Netherlands 2-7-1-10
Ireland 2-1-2-5
Czechia 2-0-0-2
Spain 1-6-4-11
The message from Giorgia Meloni
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni congratulated the Italian athletes via social media for the results obtained at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham and the European Swimming Championships in Paris. In a message on The head of government then thanked the athletes for the emotions they provided, declaring the pride of the executive: "We are proud of you".
