“Sicily rewards sports champions” it was an ideal journey along a season full of successes, built with sacrifice and self-sacrifice by athletes, technicians and managers who took to the stage of Palazzo Mastrogiovanni Tasca yesterday on the occasion of the event organized by Nando Sorbello’s Asd Agex and the Palermo section of the Association of Olympic and Italian Athletes, led by Antonio Selvaggio.
From tennis to amateur football, from karate to athletics to bridge, also passing through publishing and journalism, that is, those who tell the exploits and stories of sport and life, like so many were told yesterday in Mistretta . The afternoon dedicated to the blue shirt included both the assignment of XII Italian Azzurri Awardand the presentation of awards to the athletes who have excelled in the category rankings of the international circuit Running Sicily-Trofeo Nuova Sport Car Mini. In the Athletes and Teams category, the Palermo karateka Federica Ramirez, junior world champion, received the Premio Azzurri d’Italia; the captain of the Palermo Forense football team, the notary Roberto Indovina, Mundiavocat world champion; the Country over 55 tennis team, European over 55 champion and Clara Minagra, Italian SF70 Marathon and Half Marathon champion.
The recognition given to the Paralympic Judo bronze medalist in Tokyo, Carolina Costa, was collected by the new president of the Messina section of the Italian Athletes’ Association, Umberto Savarese. In the Managers and Coaches section, the awards went to the regional president of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation, Giorgio Giordano; to the technical director of the Italian national paralympic athletics team, Orazio Scarpa (who, among other things, won two gold medals in the discus throw in Paris 2024 with Rigivan Ganeshamoorty in the f52 discus and Oney Tapia in the f11 discus); to the president of ASD Bridge Addaura, Italian champion, Fulvio Manno; to the president of Athletics Syracuse, Salvatore dell’Aquila; to a pioneer of sport from Messina such as Piero Chillè, and to the provincial president of Palermo of the Sports Medicine Federation, Beppe Virzì. Among the journalists, the regional president of Ussi, Gaetano Rizzo, Lorenzo Magrì of the newspaper ‘La Sicilià and Francesco Triolo of ‘Antenna Sicilià’ were awarded. The Editor’s Award was awarded to Gabriele Rappa of TRM. An award is also awarded to the president of Corecom Sicilia, Andrea Peria. The European champion of the Italian 4X100 relay in Rome, Matteo Melluzzo from Syracuse, engaged in training in Catania in view of the indoor season, sent a message to thank the organizers for the awarding of the recognition named after Roberto Cecchinato.
In the sporting afternoon of Mistretta the curtain also rose on the XII international Running Sicily-Trofeo Nuova Sport Car Mini circuit which will start next on 23 February with the 40th LifeStar Malta Marathon and then continue with the Fontalba XV Maratona Antonello da Messina on March 9th, then June 22nd the novelty of the 10 km of the Chestnut of one hundred horses of Sant’Alfio. The Running Sicily-Trofeo Nuova Sport Car Mini will continue on October 19th with the XII Palermo International half Marathon to end on November 30th with the fifth and final stage in Mazara del Vallo with the XVI Sicily Marathon.