“Reggio Calabria is rooting for Massimo Spinella, athlete from Reggio competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Shooting discipline. Under the flag of the five rings, in the greatest international sporting competition, our territory will have in him a very valid representative who reconnects the thread of time, giving us unique emotions. The Olympics are the goal to which every athlete aspires, and they also represent the main sports media event at a global level. Reggio Calabria with Massimo Spinella, continues that winning combination with sports practices that confirm the great results we are obtaining in many disciplines. And in the Olympic spirit, his participation itself is a victory for all of us. On behalf of the city of Reggio Calabria, we wish him to face his races in the best condition, aware of representing Italy and also the city in the best possible way. We await his return, whatever the result achieved, to celebrate together his participation in the Olympic circuit that is already an extraordinary source of pride for our city”. This is the wish of the mayor of Reggio Calabria, Joseph Falcomata.
Massimo Spinella, who will compete in the ’25 meter automatic pistol’ specialty, was born in Reggio Calabria, where he still lives, on August 8, 1999, a member of the Fiamme gialla, he has always trained with Paolo Basile at the Reggio section of national target shooting in via Padre Catanoso. At the Paris Olympics he will be the only Reggio citizen to represent the city.
Among his individual results, he can boast a second place in the free pistol obtained at the European Junior Championships and the gold medal won in the World Cup (Cairo 2023) in the automatic pistol. In addition, the athlete from Reggio boasts two Italian records: in the sport pistol with 587 points and in the junior automatic pistol final. His idols are the German Ralph Schumann and the blue Robert Di Donna. He started attending the shooting range, in the Spirito Santo district, at just 12 years old, accompanied by his older brother Mirko and his constant growth took place under the guidance of Paolo Basile, who has always been his coach. Before approaching target shooting he had practiced mini-basketball with the Nuovo Soccorso club and football with Reggio 2000.
Graduated from the Volta High School in Reggio Calabria, he is studying to obtain a degree in Motor Sciences to bring young people closer to sport. Last July 12, in the Hall of Honor of the Coni, the debutant Massimo Spinella was presented to the authorities together with the Italian shooting team, in the presence of Giovanni Malagò, president of Coni, Luca Pancalli, president of Cip, Luciano Rossi, president of the international federation and Costantino Vespasiano, number one of Uits.