Gregorio Paltrinieri—what a fighter! He came from behind to win bronze at the European Championships

Gregorio Paltrinieri redeems himself. After missing the podium in the 10-km open water event at the European Swimming Championships currently underway in Paris, the Italian champion shone on Wednesday in the waters of the Seine, securing a splendid bronze medal with a comeback victory in the 5-km race.

The star swimmer from Carpi, who seemed out of contention halfway through the race—far behind the top three—bounced back from his struggles and managed to close the gap thanks to an extraordinary final lap, overtaking France’s Sacha Vally and finishing just shy of second place, held by Hungary’s Dávid Betlehem. The race was won by Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, the reigning European champion. The other two Italian athletes also performed well: Domenico Acerenza finished fifth, and Marcello Guidi sixth.

After crossing the finish line, Paltrinieri expressed his satisfaction: “I’m up there with two guys who are making history, and that’s fine. It hasn’t been a great season, but in the end I went out and won an important medal—my first on the Seine, breaking a long-standing barrier,” as reported by Oa Sport. “I’m still having a lot of fun. I need to work on a few things for the 10 km, but I don’t consider myself out of the running. Yesterday I finished fourth, not far behind the leaders. This is like the Olympics—the best are here, so I’m competitive.” Paltrinieri’s bronze is the sixth for the Italian team in France, bringing their total to 15 medals.

Finish order for the 5 km European Swimming Championships
1 Florian Wellbrock (GER) 55’40″2
2 David Betlehem (HUN) 55’42″6
3 Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) 55’44″7
4 Sacha Velly (FRA) 55’51″5
5 Domenico Acerenza (ITA) 55’54″4
6 Marcello Guidi (ITA) 55’54″9
7 Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) 55’55″8
8 Athanasios Charalampos Kynigakis (GRE) 56’02″5
9 Luca Karl (AUT) 56’28″6
10 Oliver Klemet (GER) 56’34″0

Senna also brought good luck to the Italian women’s team: Ginevra Taddeucci won the women’s 10 km race on Tuesday. The Florentine swimmer dominated the race, finishing with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 49 seconds, ahead of Hungary’s Viktoria Mihalyvari-Farkas and her Italian teammate Linda Caponi, who took bronze. This all-Italian one-two finish made a decisive contribution to the Italian team’s overall medal tally.