Italian team: important races on the route to home ground

Italian team: important races on the route to home ground

For the Italians there’s no doubt what’s most important this year, but the World Cup and European Championships in Portugal is very important too.

“There’s still time to make some changes resulting from what happens here”, Carlotta Scalet says. The Italian was 17^th on the Long qualification and just got into Tuesday’s final.

– What’s the goal for the Championships in Italy?

“To be among the 25 best”.

She is from Primiero where the Junior World Championships was organised in 2009. That’s just 100 kilometres from the place where the World Championships (WOC) will be, but she is studying in Karlskrona in Sweden.

There is more than one Scalet in the Italian team; Nicole is the other one. “But we are not relatives. Scalet is a very common name in Italy”, says Carlotta.

Jaroslav Kačmarčík is Head Coach for Italy and together with the team is getting good preparation for Italy’s big occasion this year. In 1979 he was in the bronze-medal relay team from Czechoslovakia at WOC. Four years later it was silver in the relay at WOC. Individually, sixth place from 1983 is his best.

“An Italian medal this year? That can be hard. Mikhal Mamleev is who we expect most from. He is a candidate to be among the ten best”, the trainer says.