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Italian Youth Fencing Championships set for takeoff, with 650 athletes competing at the Jean Nouvel in Genoa from Friday to Sunday

From Friday to Sunday, Genoa will be the capital of Italian fencing. The Jean Nouvel pavilion will welcome 650 athletes for the final phase of the Cadet and Junior Italian Championships, an event included in the “Genova 2024 European Capital of Sport” program. This is one of the most important events on the Italian Fencing Federation calendar, with Genoa as a city partner, and it serves as a key test ahead of the Senior European Championships scheduled for June 2025.

Twelve national titles will be up for grabs across the three disciplines of foil, épée, and sabre, with six reserved for the Cadet category (Under-17) and six for the Junior category (Under-20). The matches will take place on 26 pistes set up by the Organizing Committee. Spectators at the Jean Nouvel in Genoa will have the opportunity to witness the best talents in Italy’s most decorated Olympic sport. Taking the piste will be Under-20 World Team Foil Champions Irene Bertini, Greta Collini, Matilde Molinari, and Vittoria Pinna, as well as World Silver Medalists Mattia De Cristofaro, Federico Greganti, Gregorio Isolani, and Marco Panazzolo. In épée, Genoa will welcome the World Champion Team Nicolò Del Contrasto, Matteo Galassi, Fabio Mastromarino, and Jacopo Rizzi, along with Silver Medalists Anita Corradino (a true Genoese), Allegra Cristofoletto, Eleonora Orso, and Vittoria Siletti. Among the top contenders in sabre are World Silver Team Members Alessandra Nicolai, Maria Clementina Polli, Manuela Spica, and Mariella Viale, as well as the men’s team members Edoardo Cantini, Francesco Pagano, Edoardo Reale, and Marco Stigliano (team bronze medalists in Riyadh).

“It’s a dream to have such an important competition at home, in the city where I grew up, with the chance to compete in front of so many friends,” says Anita Corradino, Junior World Silver Medalist from SSD Pompilio and ambassador of “Genova 2024 European Capital of Sport.” “I am honored to represent Liguria and am sure that the event’s organization will meet the expectations of all participants arriving from across Italy,” adds Benedetta Madrignani (Circolo Scherma La Spezia), a frequent teammate of Anita in several World Cup events with the national youth team.

Among the Under-17 competitors, special attention will be on World Silver Medalist sabre fencer Francesca Romana Lentini, European Champion Vittoria Mocci, épée fencers Michele Queiroli (European Champion) and Federico Varone (World Bronze Medalist), foilist Mattia Conticini (European Silver Medalist), and women’s foilist Mariavittoria Berretta (European Silver Medalist).

“I believe that right now, Italian fencing has as many national champions as it will have competing in Genoa this weekend,” says Giovanni Falcini, President of Federscherma Liguria. “Seventeen medalists from the Under-20 World Championships will take to the pistes at Jean Nouvel. The Italian Championships, as part of Genova 2024 European Capital of Sport, will be a great opportunity to promote our discipline.”

The schedule includes:

Friday:

  • Cadet Men’s Foil (Finals 3:10 PM)
  • Cadet Men’s Épée (Finals 3:30 PM)
  • Cadet Women’s Foil (Finals 7:05 PM)
  • Cadet Women’s Épée (Finals 7:25 PM)

Saturday:

  • Junior Men’s Foil (Finals 3:10 PM)
  • Junior Women’s Foil (Finals 7:20 PM)
  • Cadet Men’s Sabre (Finals 3:30 PM)
  • Cadet Women’s Sabre (Finals 3:50 PM)

Sunday:

  • Junior Men’s Sabre (Finals 1:30 PM)
  • Junior Men’s Épée (Finals 3:25 PM)
  • Junior Women’s Sabre (Finals 4:50 PM)
  • Junior Women’s Épée (Finals 6:45 PM)

On Saturday, May 25, at 11:30 AM, the conference “Fencing on the Ethics Piste” will take place, organized by the Federscherma Ethics Committee. Speakers will include FIS President Paolo Azzi (“FIS’s Commitment to Spreading Values”), Ethics Committee President Enrico Demarchi (“The Role of an Organization that Upholds Ethics in Sport”), and lawyer Stella Frascà (“The Importance of the Ethics Code from a Legal Perspective”).

The world of education will also play an active role. Following the mascot design contest, which involved students from the Barabino-Klee Art High School, students from Firpo Buonarroti Institute and King High School will assist the Organizing Committee throughout the event, welcoming delegations at the Jean Nouvel venue, providing logistical and tourist information to visiting families, and experiencing the championship up close by the pistes.

The Cadet and Junior Italian Championships, under the auspices of FIS, are supported by the Liguria Region and the Municipality of Genoa, included in the “Genova 2024 European Capital of Sport” program, and sponsored by CONI and Sport e Salute. Partners of the Italian Championships and the 2025 European Championships include Costa Edutainment, ERG, Saar Depositi Portuali, Toyota, Gruppo Spinelli, Iveco, Silomar, Riberti, Columbus Informatica, and Convention Bureau Genova.

Press Office – European Championships Genova 2025

Marco Callai – +39 392 9591172
press@sprint2020.it