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Ice Hockey, Azzurre knockout and third but in the quarterfinals

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The heart and pride of the Azzurri were not enough to snatch points from Germany, but Italy came out with its head held high from an intense and hard-fought challenge to the last.

Andrea GussoniEstasis of silver for Dorothea Wierer. Photos of the biathlon goddess

Dorothea Wierer wins her third Olympic medal in the mixed relay after bronzes in Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.
"Let’s say it was not so easy today to manage emotions. I was very nervous, I was trembling, my legs were heavy".
Lukas gives her the change in a very good position in the mixed relay that opens the blue Olympic program.
"It’s beautiful to open like this, it’s a nice gift also for all those who work behind the scenes".
France wins the race ahead of'Italy: "It is an outstanding team and deserved success".
Wierer has been the staple of the blue biathlon for years, she began practicing the discipline in 2000.

Incentivized by her brothers, she experiences a'formidable escalation that takes her to the roof of the world.
First ever Italian woman on the Olympic individual podium thanks to bronze in the Beijing 2022 sprint.
In his palmares stand out 12 world medals including three individual golds and one team gold.

In 2019 she became the first tricolor biathlete to win the overall World Cup.

Bis the'following year for a total of six Crystal Spheres counting specialties.
Conquers Specialty Cups: individual in 2016 and 2021, pursuit 2019 and mass start 2020.
Out of the range he loves reading, relaxes with yoga and long bike rides.
She is romantically linked to'former cross-country racer Stefano Corradini, whom she married in 2015.

After 60 minutes of great struggle, the national team yields only in the penultimate lap of the hands, at the end of a game decided by Laura Kluge’s double signature. It was she who built the 1-1 action that cancelled out Justine Reyes’ early lead and scored the decisive goal that extinguished the enthusiasm of the 4,000 spectators at the Milan Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

A bitter epilogue that, however, does not erase the extraordinary path of Mattivi and her teammates, once again able to prove their full value. Thanks to the victories against France and Japan, combined with the defeats suffered only against Sweden and Germany, Italy closes Group B in third place, hitting a historic milestone: the passage to the quarterfinals for the first time in its history.

These are the words of Laura Fortino after the match: “I am extremely proud of the results of the whole group. We had very tough challenges ahead of us, and also predictions that we were underdogs but we showed that we are a family first. They were four challenges full of emotions, different from each other, and if I have to think of a key moment I have no doubt: the match with France. What pride to wear the Azzurri jersey in that context, and above all, how nice to put Italian field hockey on the map. Winning that game launched us by showing everyone that we could surprise. Now let’s think about the quarterfinal, I don’t care if I’m facing Canada. I will trust the way the technical staff will prepare it thinking only about giving my best for Italy”.

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