Paris 2024: Paltrinieri “I’m stopping, I don’t know if it’s my last race”
“Now? I’ll stop and I’ll stop a lot. I want to take some time off. I don’t know if it was my last race, I want to take some time to decide and to dedicate myself to other things. I repeat, I need to stop.” Gregorio Paltrinieri said this to RaiSport microphones, at the end of the 10km long distance swimming event at the Paris 2024 Games, which he finished in ninth place. “It was very complicated. A very difficult race. I had never tried the course and I didn’t know what to expect – he added – plus I struggled a lot to find my swim today, especially in favor of the current. I was always hanging on to a thread ready to break. I never managed to find my pace, my rhythm. When the others changed the pace I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry for this race: I hoped to do well but the others went very fast. I’m sorry for Acerenza’s fourth place, I was hoping that at least he could get to the podium. My Olympics so far have been very good and overall I’m happy,” concluded the champion from Emilia, winner of two medals in the pool (bronze in the 800 and extraordinary silver in the 1500).
Paris 2024, 10km cross-country: Italian disappointment, Acerenza fourth and Paltrinieri ninth
Gregorio Paltrinieri did not win a medal in men’s long-distance swimming, failing to get a hat-trick of Olympics in Paris 2024 in the 10 km open water swim on the Seine riverbed. The champion number of Italian swimming after the bronze in the 800 and the silver in the 1500 in the pool, was trying to find the necessary push for yet another medal but the river currents and the lack of tests, due to the poor quality of the water in the Parisian river, limited him, making him finish in ninth place at +1.05.3 the race dominated by the Hungarian Kristof Rasovszky with a time of 1h 50:52.7, followed by the German Klemet at +2.1. Third and bronze, the other Hungarian Betlehem (+16.3). Only fourth was the first Italian, Domenico Acerenza, who finished 16.9 behind the first. After a race in which he always remained in the leading group.
Paris 2024: Long Distance Swimming, Paltrinieri Ninth Gives Himself a 9 in His Report Card and Reflects on His Future
“It seemed like the Monte Carlo GP in F1, you couldn’t overtake. There was only one trajectory and I express myself better when there is more space”, Paltrinieri said with a smile, smiling in the mixed zone. “I gave it my all. I died… I tried to do my best and in the end I tried to break away to catch up with the first two but I was beyond my strength and in the final sprint I was finished”, added Domenico Acerenza after the fourth place that stings a bit. “This was destiny. Let’s move forward”, added Acerenza. For Fin, this is how it came, the sixth fourth place in addition to six medals.
There had been a lot of controversy over the Seine and the two Italians did not shy away. “Beautiful race course, one of the most beautiful races I’ve done but now let’s hope we’re okay. Would I dive back into the Seine? No…. I would dive back for another Olympics. We’ve heard so many things about the Seine, many told us not to jump in but it’s like asking someone not to go to work. I hope someone is okay otherwise they’ll have to take responsibility”, said Acerenza.
“A madness to swim in the Seine? Not if the values are good. Of course the river was always unusable except on the days of the competitions when it was accessible again, a bit strange”, Paltrinieri underlined. “We didn’t know what to expect, Mimmo Acerenza and I preferred not to try it before, I don’t know if that had an influence. Maybe the location wasn’t suitable for my characteristics”, added the champion who gave himself “a 9 for this Olympics” and then spoke about his future, which is still yet to be deciphered.
“I can start again in a month, I wouldn’t be able to do it sooner and then if I had to continue, which I don’t rule out, I need time on a mental level. I can’t do everything anymore, I’ll have to make a decision and I’m sorry that these could be my last races in the pool. Coming here ninth bothers me, I deserved more. My last Olympics? No that thing, it could motivate me. Flag bearer? Sooner or later it’s my turn…, if they tell me first I’ll continue…”, concluded Paltrinieri. “Go on? I want to think that if I do it it’s for something big, to get to Los Angeles”, added Greg. “Los Angeles? I would bet much more on Rossella (Fiamingo, ed.) than on myself”.
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