Italian gymnast Alice D’Amato held her nerve to strike historic gold on the balance beam Monday (5th August) at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Italy secured another gold with the Mixed Skeet team beating the USA in a tight final match.
D’Amato secured a score of 14.366, surpassing Zhou Yaqin of China, who earned a 14.100. Her teammate, Manila Esposito, finished third with 14.000. This marks the first time an Italian woman has won an Olympic medal in the balance beam or any individual event, giving Italy two medals in total.
D’Amato, overcome with disbelief, covered her face as her victory was confirmed. This victory also represents Italy’s first Olympic gymnastics title since Igor Cassina’s gold on the horizontal bar at Athens 2004.
Top qualifier Zhou was the first to compete but had to grab the beam to avoid falling during a full-turning straight jump, resulting in a score of 14.100, which was over .700 lower than her qualifying score. This stumble left the competition open. The final was tense, with falls from American gymnasts Simone Biles and Suni Lee, among others. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the last to perform, made no significant mistakes but had a difficulty score .400 lower than in the qualifying round, placing her fourth.
D’Amato took full advantage of the opportunity, maintaining composure despite a slight adjustment during her acrobatic series. This victory adds to the team silver she helped Italy achieve a few days prior, their first since 1928.
Italy Wins Gold in Mixed Skeet
In the final shooting event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Italy’s Diana Bacosi and Gabriele Rossetti narrowly defeated the USA’s Vincent Hancock and Austen Jewell Smith, 45-44, to win gold in the mixed team skeet final. This event marked the Olympic debut of mixed team skeet, making Bacosi and Rossetti the first-ever Olympic champions in this discipline.
“We achieved this as a team, and we are really happy about the delegation’s performance,” Rossetti commented. Bacosi added, “We did it together. I was not alone during the whole competition. We supported each other. We have achieved this medal together and couldn’t have won it alone.”
Earlier in the week, Hancock secured his fourth Olympic gold in the individual competition, with the mixed team silver being the first of a different colour in his Olympic career. Reflecting on the competition, Hancock said, “We did everything we could. It was their day.”
Italy remain 8th in the medals table with 9 golds, 10 silver and 6 bronze.
