Paltrinieri and Detti in history: gold and bronze!

It was supposed to be and was Gregorio Paltrinieri’s big night.

The 21-year-old from Carpi, a former European and world champion, also dominated his race, the 1500 m freestyle, at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Paltrinieri contained himself only in the first two pools, then he put on the turbo and no one could keep up with his world-record pace. In the end, Sun Yang’s overall record (who did not even qualify for this final) did not collapse but the 14’34″57 was still scary.

Paltrinieri, however, was not the only Italian to get on the podium: Gabriele Detti, already a bronze medalist in the 400, in fact repeated himself and with a great comeback over the American Wilimovsky finished third, behind the other American Jaeger. A memorable night for swimming and for Italian sport in general, which at these Olympics is already at 18 medals: 6 golds, 7 silvers and 5 bronzes.