Italian equestrian sports enthusiasts are preparing for a year of intense emotions. The season, presented today at the Italian National Olympic Committee, will have its climax in the Parisian Olympics and Paralympics. "This is a special year, the last of our second four-year period, a beautiful year that leads us to the Olympics. We have two representatives in three Olympic disciplines, this is satisfying, a great result that makes us optimistic", says the federal president Marco Di Paola.
At the Château de Versailles, the eventing team, an individual pair in show jumping (thanks to Emanuele Camilli, first in the FEI group B ranking), and the Paradressage team, led by double Paralympic bronze and current world and European freestyle champion Sara Morganti, will compete. There are many equestrian events in 2024 that see Italy as the host country. After the success of the FEI World Championships Eventing and Driving Pratoni del Vivaro 2022 at the federal equestrian center Ranieri di Campello, several World Championships will be hosted again: from September 26 to 29, it will be the time for the FEI Endurance World Championships in Arborea, from July 19 to 21 and from July 26 to 28, the World Mounted Games Championships, team in Arezzo and individual in Caviglia. "We are the seventh federation out of 48 Italian sports federations in terms of number of athletes and the third in terms of self-financing capacity, after football and tennis - says Di Paola - We generate a turnover of 3 billion euros on the national GDP (data from 2019, ed)". Currently, added the president, the Fise is the third federation, out of 138 in the world, "in terms of number of competitive athletes and number of events organized, another point of pride for our country".
Not only: "We have invested 4 million euros in social policies. Sport and Health, which we thank for the support, has understood the value of this mission", emphasizes Di Paola. In 2024, the Italian public will also be able to attend another continental championship (after the FEI European Championships Jumping of 2023 in Milan), namely the European ambassador show jumping championships from July 11 to 14 in San Giovanni in Marignano, in Emilia Romagna. Among the many other prestigious events, the Nations Cup CCI4*S in complete at Montelibretti (RM), from March 15 to 17, an important preparation test for the Italian team ahead of the Olympics. The first goal, for the medium-term future of Italian equestrian sports, "is always to achieve sports records, but at the same time federations must continue to change skin - concludes the federal president - They must increasingly become service providers, to promote sport and grow all the values that sport brings with it".
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