It all began today, in Budapest in Hungary, with the first stage of the season of the World Cup, the qualification procedure for Italy for the short track events at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang in 2018. In fact, under the head coach Kenan Gouadec the Italian athletes are undertaking the first of four key events in order to achieve their Olympic dream, arriving in Budapest at the end of a long journey that began months ago with summer preparations and finished in September with the last official tests between Courmayeur and Heerenveen.
Twelve athletes will be convened in ten days to tackle the European stages in Budapest (Hungary) and Dordrecht (the Netherlands) to rack up the first valid points to earn as many cards as possible to get to the Olympics. The schedule for November then includes the last two tests, between Shanghai and Seoul, that will form the definitive list of all those who qualify, with 32 cards for each distance (500, 1000 and 1500), 8 places for the men’s relay and 8 places for the women’s relay. Each country can deploy up to 5 athletes in the men’s event and 5 athletes in the women’s event should they qualify for the relay; however, they cannot send more than 3 men and 3 women for each individual distance.
“We are confident because we have worked hard and the signs are encouraging,” says Italia Team head coach Kenan Gouadec. “Over the past few days we had a few problems with the ice, but today it was perfect and we went hard. There’s just the right amount of tension ahead of such an important event: I’m certain that we will take Italy’s name to the top, trying to gain the first crucial points for qualifying for the Olympics.”
The athletes convened for the first two stages of the World Cup are: Arianna Fontana (Fiamme Gialle Predazzo), Arianna Valcepina (Fiamme Gialle Predazzo), Martina Valcepina (Fiamme Gialle Predazzo) Elena Viviani (Fiamme Gialle Predazzo), Tommaso Dotti (Fiamme Oro Moena), Lucia Peretti (C.S. Esercito Courmayeur), Mattia Antonioli (Bormio Ghiaccio), Andrea Cassinelli (V.G. Torino), Davide Viscardi (Agorà Skating Team Milano), Cecilia Maffei (Fiamme Azzurre), Nicola Rodigari (Carabinieri Selva di Val Gardena) and Yuri Confortola (Carabinieri Selva di Val Gardena).
Meanwhile, the Italian athletes chosen by Head Coach Gouadec to hit the ice today and tomorrow in the qualifying rounds are:
Men: Cassinelli (500, 1000), Dotti (1000, 1500), Confortola (1000, 1500), Viscardi (500), Antonioli (500), Rodigari (1500).
Women: Fontana (500, 1000, 1500), Peretti (500, 1000, 1500), M. Valcepina (500), Viviani (1000), Maffei (1500).
The race schedule:
Thursday 28 September, from 9am: 500 and 1500 heats
Friday 29 September, from 9am: 1000 heats/ relay heats and quarter-finals
Saturday 30 September, from 1.30pm: 1500 semi-finals and finals / 500 quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, relay semi-finals
Sunday 1 October, from 12.40pm: 1000 semi-finals and finals / relay finals
