Irma Testa qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympics with the semifinal at the European Games – Corriere.it

In Rio I was almost a child, in Tokyo a girl, in Paris I will be a woman and for the first time I will really enjoy the Olympics. Irma Testa comes down from the hot ring of the Nowy Targ ice rink spurting sweat and happiness. After three rounds of a quarterfinal in which she practically failed to land a shot against the blue who was dancing in front of her at double speed, the poor Spaniard Fernandez Romero shakes his head. By earning the semi-final of the European Games in Poland,

Testa got his third ticket to the Games, what he should already have in his pocket having won the World Cup in New Delhi three months ago but which had to be regained because the IOC, furious against an international federation corroded by scandals, expelled it from the Olympic assembly. In India he called the Iba and I went to compete – he explains – then the IOC called me back and I came back here: if you’re an athlete you can’t think about political events, only about fighting and winning. Paris confirmed, Los Angeles also: boxing cannot disappear.

The joy of Sorrentino and men’s boxing

For the post-Paris (where she aims for gold) there were rumors of a transition to professionalism, on which Irma is holding back. Professionalism – underlines the Fiamme Oro athlete – needs concrete working conditions that do not exist in Italy and perhaps never will. Now we are the professionals. 50 kilo wren, the blue Giordana Sorrentino cries and clutches the ticket to Paris in her hands after defeating the Serbian Radovanovic in a convulsive quarter-final. I also competed in the Tokyo Games – says the 23-year-old Roman carabiniere – but the thrill of having qualified is the same. We boxers live on sacrifices, far from the spotlight: an Olympics is worth a career. Japan’s ninth place is not enough for me, now I want a medal. From the European Championships another good news for the blue boxing: with the qualification of Salvatore Cavallaro in the 80 kgmen return to Olympic tournament after Tokyo absence which had plunged the industry into depression.