Rome, 10th May on occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Italian National Olympic Committee (AONI), today the President of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Malagò, greeted IOC Vice President Thomas Bach (GER), EOC President Patrick Hickey (IRL), and International Olympic Academy President Isidoro Kouvelos (GRE), all in Rome for the celebrations at the CONI HQ.
The new Italian government’s sports minister, the canoeing Olympian Josefa Idem, IOC Members Franco Carraro and Mario Pescante, and ASOIF President Francesco Ricci-Bitti, also attended the event, during which AONI President Mauro Checcoli gave an address in which he recounted the Academy’s many achievements.
The AONI also paid homage to the five presidents that have led CONI over the past 25 years, namely: Franco Carraro, Arrigo Gattai, Mario Pescante, Giovanni Petrucci, and the current incumbent Giovanni Malagò, who all received the AONI Award, with the exception of Arrigo Gattai who died last September and whose award was collected by his daughter.
This very special day then continued with the presentation of the Giulio Onesti Award, created in memory of the founding president of CONI, who was also behind many international initiatives, including the worldwide association of NOCs.
The Foundation that bears his name, and that works closely with AONI, this year gave the award to two exceptional athletes, driver Alex Zanardi, now a Paralympic handbiking medallist, and the recently deceased recording breaking
sprinter Pietro Mennea.
The AONI’s grand gala ended with a parade of the Italian Olympic and Paralympic team’s standard bearers for both summer and winter Games.
On the eve of the event, at the CONI Olympic Preparation Centre, the XXIV AONI session, which had begun on the 8th, concluded its works on the theme “The Heritage of the Olympic ideal: the Olympic Games and the challenges they pose in terms of education “.
