With
its haul of two gold, three silver and three bronze medals, Tuscany
outperformed such nations as Ireland, Turkey and Finland in the 2012 Olympics.
Tuscany’s Olympic heroes are Andrea Baldini, Niccolò Campriani, Aldo Montano,
Marta Pagnini, Stefano Tempesti, Luca Tesconi and Paralympic competitor Mateo
Betti.
Luca Tesconi, from
Pietrasanta, opened up Italy’s medal tally with a silver medal in the men’s 10m
air pistol. Tesconi, who had never surpassed a 10th place in an individual
competition, staged a magnificent comeback in his last five shots in London to
snag an unlikely silver.
Florentine
Niccolò Campriani was Tuscany’s most
decorated Olympian, returning home with a gold medal in the 50m three-position
rifle, and silver in the 10m air rifle. With a score of 1278.5 in the 50m
three-position rifle, Campriani set a new Olympic record.
Andrea Baldini, together with
Valerio Aspromonte, Giorgio Avola and Andrea Cassarà, won gold in the men’s
team foil, beating Japan in the final (45-39). Gold was especially gratifying
for Baldini, as the Livorno fencer was forced to relinquish his place at the
2008 Beijing Olympics after failing a drug test but was subsequently cleared of
all charges.
Aldo Montano, also from
Livorno, was unable to repeat his gold medal in the team sabre (Athens in
2004), but won bronze in London.
Goalkeeper
of the Italian water polo team, Stefano
Tempesti, from Prato, won silver after a narrow defeat of Croatia (8-6).
Marta Pagnini, from Prato, won
bronze in the women’s team rhythmic gymnastics.
In his
second participation in the Paralympic Games, Matteo Betti was Tuscany’s only decorated Paralympian, winning
bronze in Category A wheelchair fencing.
