From the dream of the bronze medal to the tears for the last dive that ruined everything, sending them to seventh place in a ranking that couldn't be more mocking.
The dream of
Elena Bertocchi
and
Chiara Pellacani
fades at the last corner
in the women's 3-meter sync, placed penultimate in the standings at the end of a race that had seen them in the odor of a medal until the final execution. Indeed, at the end of the third round out of five, at the Tokyo Aquatics Center it seemed to be back to relive the exploits of the Cagnotto-Dallapé couple in Rio 2016, when Italy won the first female medal in diving, a silver. In the third round also Bertocchi-Pellacani had found themselves second, then after the fourth still in the podium area, third ahead of Germany by a few tenths of a point.
In a race dominated from start to finish by the unbeatable Chinese, who easily won the gold medal with a total score of 326.40, followed by the Canadians who won silver, the two Italian divers disbanded on the fatal 45.90 in the last double and a half back pike. At least 63.40 points were needed to keep the Germans at bay and win the bronze: "Even if it does not seem like it, we are happy with the path we have taken to get here. We did not expect this result precisely because the training sessions have always gone well. we are at the first Olympic experience, the dream of a lifetime, so we are happy ", says Bertocchi who cannot hold back his tears. His mistake in entering the water that saw the third medal of theItaly in Tokyo 2020. "We made a really nice journey and this would have been the icing on the cake, it was the first experience and that's okay", said Pellacani was also convinced, who shortly afterwards in a mixed zone tried to console his partner. hugging her and trying to find an explanation for the mistake on the last dive.
"Maybe it was a little bit of emotion, with more experience we would have been able to manage it better". That famous 'little arm' that stops you just when you feel that the finish line is near and now everything depends only on you. After the bitterness for the disappointment, this is a couple that can still grow in sight of Paris 2024. On the other hand, there are only three years to go.