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In Rio, a large team of military athletes

from all 4 Serviceswill chase medals

in several disciplines,from fencing to archery,

from swimming to rhythmic and artistic gymnastics,

from Olympic trap to precision shooting,

and many others.Military athletes will try to

repeat the results of the London 2012 Olympics,

where they won almost half of Italian medals.

THE MILITARY ATHLETESIN THE ITALIAN OLYMPIC TEAM

Traduzione:Paolo Cappelli – Paola Allori

The athletes of the Defence Olym-

pic Team are finalising their

preparation for the Rio 2016

XXXI Olympic Games, the first edition of

the games to be organised in South Amer-

ica. At present, 55 Defence athletes (their

number can vary before departure to Bra-

sil) have already obtained the “Olympic

Pass” to compete against the best perform-

ing athletes of 5 continents in an event

that will be characterised by universality

and excellence in performance more than

ever. Two military athletes add to this

Team, who will compete in the Paralympic

Games thereafter. In some disciplines, such

as fencing, modern pentathlon, precision

shooting, Olympic trap, judo, and diving,

just to mention a few, a larger number of

Walter BORGHINO

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With these words, Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, welcomed the Italian athletes leaving for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Rio de Janeiro at the Quirinale Presidential Palace on June 22nd, 2016.The Olympic Team was led by the President of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Mr. Giovanni Malagò and the President of the Italian Paralympic Committee, Mr. Luca Pancalli.The President handed over the national flag to the Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini and the Paralympic athlete Martina Caironi, who will be the standard-bearers at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.The Armed Forces Military Band marked the beginning and the end of the ceremony by playing the Italian National Anthem and the Olympic Anthem, respectively.

“The Olympic Games are an opportunity for peace, friendship, loyalty, and compe-tition while respecting others”

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military athletes compete. But they are

well posed to achieve good results in all

disciplines. As a matter of fact, this year’s

challenge will be harder to tackle than the

past ones. Thanks to globalisation, cultur-

al exchanges among continents, and the

availability of foreign trainers and coach-

es, some nations can now challenge oppo-

nents on an equal basis and with excellent

chances to win as they never did before.

By and large, military sports are no less

important today, as they increasingly rep-

resent the core of Italian performance. The

Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) is look-

ing forward to achieving the same results

of London Olympics, if not better, where

Italy won 28 medals. Should this success be

accomplished, as we believe it will, military

athletes will have played a great part in it.

Military Sports Today

Military Sports have been part to what

is known as the “Italian Sports Model”

and represent one of the strongpoints of

top-level national sports. The relationships

between the Italian Olympic Committee

and Defence are regulated by an Agree-

ment signed on April 24th, 2015 between

the Minister of Defence and the President

of CONI and by a 4-year Memorandum

of Understanding that expires periodi-

cally something in between two Olympic

Games.

The Memorandum covers the respective

duties and obligations to implement new

sports programmes for Armed Forces’ ath-

letes synergistically, with special reference

to medical care, coaching and scientific

assistance, training of coaches and exec-

utives, promotion of Olympic disciplines,

the organisation of sport events and relat-

ed support, plus the promotion of sports at

large. Another interesting aspect concern-

ing the synergistic approach to sports in-

volves military sports facilities, whose us-

age and management falls under a Sports

Facilities Agreement renewed in 2015.

Military sports facilities provide decisive

support to national sports, allow full-time

focus of athletes onto their disciplines and

therefore improve their performance. The

very athletes also receive a salary they

would not have otherwise, and remain in

the ranks of their Service once they stop

competing. One the other hand, their Ser-

vices’ image benefits strongly from these

athletes as the latter share and promote

values such as solidarity, respect, fair play,

and discipline. Sports amplify all of these

and - on the top of that - shape top-level

professionals who can contribute to main-

taining and improving the psychological

and physical conditions of all service mem-

bers.

Service Sports Teams

The Services to which the Sports Teams

belong recognise and foster the value of

sports as a supporting instrument of train-

ing and of psychological and physical de-

velopment. Therefore, they strongly sup-

port sports.

The guidelines the Services follow to de-

velop sport activities are as follows:

• mass sport practice to achieve and

improve service members’ physical fitness,

i.e. the pre-condition to fulfil the institu-

tional mission of the Italian Armed Forces

and Armed Corps;

• leisure sports activities to make bet-

ter use of spare time;

• top-level sports in preparation for

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During the latest edition of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, 79 Defence athletes par-ticipated, notably 25 from the Army, 6 from the Navy, 29 from the Air Force, 19 from the Carabinieri. Of these, 41 were men and 38 women. Together, who competed in 21 sport disciplines. Out of 28 medals (8 gold, 9 silver, and 11 bronze) won in London by the Olympic Team, 13 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze) went to military athletes. The total reaches 25 medals - i.e. almost all medals awarded - if we add those won by the Sports Teams of all Gendarmerie forces. At the Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, Russia, 40 military athletes (27 men and 13 women) have competed in 10 disciplines. They won 8 medals, of which two by Defence athletes.

Gabrio Zandonà – Italian Navy Sailing Team

Noemi Batki Army Diving Team European Gold 2011

Archery TeamItalian Air ForceGold, London 2012

Rosalba ForcinitiJudo - CarabinieriBronze, London 2012

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ITALIAN ARMYAt present, 238 military athletes are serving at the Army Sports Centre. Among the disciplines they train for are:Summer sports: namely track and field, judo, karate, wrestling, swimming, modern pentathlon, boxing, fencing, weightlifting, taekwondo, precision shooting, Olympic trap, triathlon, gymnastics;Winter sports: namely alpine skiing, cross country skiing, biathlon, mountain-climbing skiing, snowboarding, ski cross, natural track luge, artificial track luge, skeleton, short track, winter triathlon, ski roll, grass skiing, rock climbing;Equestrian sports: i.e. show jumping, full, endurance;Parachuting: with focus on precision landing, freestyle, free fall figures, parasky.The Army Sports Centre was established in 1997. The athletes, depending on the practiced disciplines, serve at the: Army Olympic Sports Centre in Rome (Summer sports); Winter Sports Section in Courmayeur (Winter sports); Horse Riding Centre in Montelibretti, Rome (Equestrian sports); Parachuting Section in Pisa (Parachuting).

ITALIAN NAVYThe Italian Navy Sports Team is made up of 39 athletes who train for the following sports disciplines: skeet shooting, sharpshooting, open water swimming, synchronized swimming, lifesaving swimming, diving, Olympic sailboat classes, Mini Transat 6.50, target archery, white-water slalom (canoe or kayak), rowing and canoe/kayak. The Navy Sports Team draws its athletes from several units, including:The COMSUBIN (Diver and Raider Command Group) Competitive Sporting Centre. These athletes are specialised in skeet shooting and sharpshooting. At present, the Centre contributes seven international-level athletes; The ‘Tor di Quinto’ Sporting Centre in Rome, which hosts three soccer fields and two buildings distributed over an area of about 291,000 sq. ft.; The Competitive Sports Centre in Luni (La Spezia), which has been involved in international canoeing competitions since 1994;The Navy Rowing Centre, which was established in 1958 as the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) asked the Italian Navy to train the canoeing team for the Olympic Games. In 1960, Navy canoeing crews competed in the Olympic Games held in Rome. The Navy Rowing Centre relies on four training installations located around the Paola Lake in Sabaudia, Latina.

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ITALIAN AIR FORCEThe Italian Air Force (ITAF) Sport Section relies on 127 athletes competing in the following sports disciplines: track and field, volleyball, winter sports, beach volleyball, roller skating, table tennis, canoeing, modern pentathlon, skeet shooting, artistic gymnastics, fencing, archery, rhythmic gymnastics, ice sports, sailing-windsurf, basketball and equestrianism.The ITAF Sports Section was established in 1964. Originally located at the Urbe Airport, Rome, it was later redeployed to Vigna di Valle, about 40 km north of Rome.Among the various sports disciplines the Section competes in are athletics, fencing, basketball, and bobsled. In this latter discipline, Warrant Officer Luciano de Paolis won gold medals during the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. In 2008 Olympics, ITAF Athletes obtained a gold medal, two silver medals and four bronze medals. The 2012 Olympic games in London saw the participation of 29 ITAF athletes, of which 14 won medals, notably 5 gold, 2 silver, and 8 bronze medals.

CARABINIERIThe Carabinieri Sports Team consists of 128 athletes, both men and women, who compete in the following disciplines: athletics, swimming, judo, fencing, skeet shooting, sharpshooting, modern pentathlon, triathlon, equestrian sports, skydiving, taekwondo, and winter sports. Established in 1964 in Rome, the Carabinieri Sports Team reports directly to the Carabinieri Schools Command.The Carabinieri Sports organisation comprises ten Sections spread across Italy. The core of the organisation is located in Rome and deals with equestrian sports, judo, modern pentathlon, triathlon, fencing taekwondo, sharpshooting, and skeet shooting.The remaining four Sections are located in Selva di Val Gardena (BZ) (winter sports), Bologna (Track and Field), Leghorn (Skydiving) and Naples (Swimming). The sports organisation coordinates, directs, and supports all activities in these fields with a view to promoting the Carabinieri’s image through the results obtained by their top-level military athletes, most of whom are part of national sports teams.

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The Defence Paralympic Sports Group was established on December 22nd, 2014 to facilitate the physical and psy-chological rehabilitation of military personnel who suffered permanent or invalidating injuries/ diseases while serving in Italy or abroad.This is a valuable opportunity for them to continue leading an active lifestyle and to facilitate integration and devel-op esprit de corps among them with the aim of a most effective social reha-bilitation.Furthermore, Italy is the only country where disabled military may remain on active duty in a dedicated category of service known as the Roll of Honour. Over the last years the Italian Paralym-pic Sports Group has attended many national and international competi-tions.They have trained hard thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding that Italy signed with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). In par-ticular, the Memorandum reaffirms the reciprocal commitment of both par-ties to identify strategies and effec-tive functional techniques to promote Paralympic sporting activities for the social reintegration and physical and psychological rehabilitation of disabled military personnel.The disciplines the Group competes in include athletics, cycling, indoor row-ing, archery, swimming, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair rugby.Between May 8-12, 2016 the athletes of the Defence Paralympic Sports Group took part to the Invictus Games in Orlando, Florida. The first edition of the Invictus Games was held in London in 2014.

national and international competitions.

All these activities are developed with-

in the Military Sports Centres, which are

mainly located in Rome. Conversely, Disci-

pline Sections are available all across Italy.

Sports for the youngsters are also support-

ed by Defence in its attempt to promote

sports in general. The Armed Forces - just

as the Fire Brigade, National Police, and

the Guardia di Finanza - are strongly com-

mitted to offering sport opportunities to

young boys and girls aged between 10 and

19 through top-level coaches and installa-

tions. The Paralympic Sports Team and its

athletes, who were disabled as a result of

their service, will also be part of the game.

Recruiting and Future Perspectives

Military athletes have been recruited by

public selection by titles for years. Once

a year, on average, a call for selection of

military athletes is issued with respect

to specific sport disciplines. Which disci-

plines will be open for selection depends

on several factors, namely the need to

replace aging athletes; to foster new dis-

ciplines such as table tennis, target ar-

chery, badminton; provide young athletes

with consistent training opportunities

in preparation for competitions and the

related coaching, logistic, and econom-

ic support. A core requirement to invest

in people and to continue supporting

top-level sports is that applicants are al-

ready considered top-level athletes by

the Sport Federation they belong to. This

means the applicants are already at the

top in junior categories of their respective

disciplines and show great potential for

excellent future performance. For some

disciplines, however, there is a risk that

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transition into Absolute and Senior Cate-

gories is not easy, especially if athletes en-

list when they are very young. As a mat-

ter of fact, recruiting is allowed from the

age of 17. However, the large majority of

selected military athletes take full advan-

tage of this opportunity with a sense of

stability they would not experience else-

where. Individual growth is exponential

in some cases, and personal maturation is

quick and effective. As the results prove,

this sport model meets the expectations

of the Olympic Committee and the Sports

Federations in full, while it provides all

the instruments to push top-level sports-

men and women up the ladder. Last, but

not least, this very model offers career op-

portunities in one of the Defence sectors

to athletes at the end of their sporting life,

consistently with the individual charac-

teristics and the skills they have acquired

over the years.

The Future

Military sports represent an area of ex-

cellence marked by training, education-

al, and competitive characters. They are

part of the transformation process that

involves the very organisation and pur-

pose of military sports as a whole. Thanks

to the guidelines contained in the Italian

‘White Paper for International Security

and Defence’, a joint services study was

launched to rationalise the military sports

sector in the short and middle term. This

effort engages all Services at the same

time and to the same magnitude in an

attempt to decrease the number of ath-

letes though gradual but firm downsizing,

while focusing on their quality and train-

ing. Athletes who reach the end of their

sporting careers will continue their pro-

fessional path as regular service members.

The post-Olympics phase will represent

an excellent opportunity to review the

current model and give new momentum

to future, more significant, and success-

ful prospects. In particular, it is reasona-

ble to assume that a knowledgeable set of

initiatives will be adopted to optimise the

system, guide recruiting, and standardise

regulations, internal rules, and salaries.

Among these initiatives are the following:

• Having Services serve as the en-

gines of and the entities in charge for

each discipline thanks to their coordinat-

ing role.

• The ongoing downsizing of per-

sonnel and disciplines will lead to the cre-

ation of Sport Clusters, where sports will

be listed by priority. They will receive a

different degree of attention depending

on the available financial resources and

on the trends the national sports system

as a whole follow at any given moment.

• Larger and better synergistic

achievements will be sought in sharing

facilities and coaches with a view to train-

ing, workshops, events, and sport events.

• Consistency will also be sought in

external communication by asserting the

central role played by Defence.

• The role and functions of the CO-

NI-Armed Forces Liaison and Defence

Sports Branch at the Defence General

Staff will be widened to include issues

of common interest such as recruitment,

re-assignment of personnel no longer fit

for sport competitions, and liaison activ-

ities with the Italian Olympic Committee

and National Discipline Federations.