Sofia Raffaeli, new venture: silver at the European Rhythmic Championships. “Dedicated to Italy that believed in me”

Another medal for Sophia Raffaeli, 19-year-old rhythmic gymnastics star. She is the first Italian world champion in the all around, and now the first to get on the podium of the European Championships in the same specialty.

In Baku in Azerbaijan, the blue from Chiaravalle who grew up in Fabriano Gymnastics won silver in the continental event with a score of 129.550, in the competition that includes the four apparatus. Only the Bulgarian beat her Boryana Kaleyn with 131,000 points, while the other Bulgarian Stiliana Nikolova won the bronze. A feat that enters the annals of the discipline that has lived through a very tough year with the accusations and proceedings against some coaches, and which has not proposed a Sofia Raffaeli in its best version. But even a less dazzling performance than in the past was enough to win a weight medal: yet another confirmation of Sofia’s immense talent.

“I’m certainly much happier than in the qualifiers” says the Fiamme Oro gymnast at the end of the competition, “I managed to do the four apparatus without mistakes. However I didn’t do my best, I skipped many parts of the exercises, I’m not entirely satisfied But I still have a silver medal, and I dedicate it to all of Italy that believed in me, as well as my coach Julieta (Cantaluppi)“.

Sofia Raffaeli, after qualifying far below her standards, decided not to risk in the final by lightening the contents of her program: “We had decided to remove a little something, but perhaps I removed a little too much. It was enough to do the qualifying program well , but that’s okay: I still have three finals on Sunday, and I’ll try to redeem myself”.

On the eve of the blue, she devoted herself to understanding what had happened to her as she approached the final, which had proposed an almost unrecognizable version of a champion famous for her grit and precision since she was a child: “I metabolized the mistakes, and tried to understand what happened psychologically. I tried to have a different approach to this race. I won’t be satisfied until I approach perfection on the platform.”

Sofia Raffaeli: “My golds in rhythmics for the Marche region, now I dream of the Paris Olympics”

by Cosimo Cito

September 19, 2022