Italy elated, and confounded, by surprise success

ROME－Italy enjoyed unprecedented success at the Tokyo Olympics, but consensus on the reasons for the country's record medal haul is proving elusive.

Bagging 10 gold, 10 silver and 20 bronze medals, Italy finished as the top-ranked European Union nation, and seventh in the overall standings at the Games, which concluded last Sunday.

Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian Olympic Committee, credited smart investment and organization as keys to the medal rush.

"Over the last several years, when we make a commitment we see it through to the end," Malago told Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera. "We have made major efforts to organize sporting events around the country and we have given visibility to companies that have trusted us, and now the credibility of Italian sports is at the highest level."

Another leading newspaper, Il Fatto Quotidiano, speculated that the success comes from a shifting focus on athletes, noting that the country earned no medals at all in its traditional strongholds such as fencing, shooting, or team sports, but instead enjoyed record hauls in swimming and track and field. The newspaper noted that Italy's 40 medals came from 19 different sports.

"This is a tangible sign of how sport in Italy is headed in a new direction," the newspaper said.

The point is well taken: Lamont Marcell Jacobs' victory in the men's 100 meters came from Italy's first-ever appearance in that Olympic final. The men's 4x100m relay gold was also a first for the country. High jumper Gianmarco Tamberi, who shared gold in the event with Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim, became the first Italian to earn a medal in the discipline. Italy also won both the 20-kilometer race walks, with Antonella Palmisano winning the women's title and Massimo Stano taking the men's crown.

According to Giovanna Russo, a professor of sports sociology at the University of Bologna, the Italian team's diversity was a major factor.

"We can look at the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team that was a microcosm of the team as a whole," Russo told Xinhua, referring to a sprinting lineup that featured US-born 100m champion Jacobs, Fausto Desalu, born in Italy to Nigerian parents, as well as Lorenzo Patta and anchor Filippo Tortu, who are both of 100 percent Italian heritage.

"I look at the success at the Olympics as a symbol of the new, more inclusive Italy," she said.

But Antonio Polito, a columnist for Corriere della Sera, took a different view.

While Polito praised the winners, he pointed to other recent successes the country has enjoyed on the sporting and cultural stages－Italy's victory at soccer's UEFA European Championship, tennis player Matteo Berrettini's run to the Wimbledon final, and even Italy's victory at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time since 1990.

"Unlike other countries, there aren't many areas of Italian life where young people have an advantage over older generations," Polito told Xinhua.

"Italy is no longer a place where a hardworking young person without connections can hope to excel in the workplace.

"But our youth unemployment is among the highest in the industrialized world. There is no future for young people in politics. So all the talent and enthusiasm is being funneled into a few key areas, like sports or music. Areas where success is based on merit."

Polito said this change did not help Italy overachieve at the Olympics, but rather to take its rightful place among its peers.

"Italy's success seems strongest compared to its previous results, not compared to other countries," he added.

"In terms of medals, Italy was more or less tied with France and Germany, countries with broadly similar-sized populations and economies.

"Britain, another country with a similar-sized population and economy, did better than Italy. The Netherlands' population is less than a third of Italy's and they did as well as Italy did. Australia has less than half Italy's population and they did better than Italy."

Polito continued: "Italy didn't really exceed expectations. We basically had the level of success we should have had. But that's a new thing."

Xinhua