Diletta Giampiccolo

Diletta Giampiccolo (born July 27, 1974, in Catania) is a retired amateur Italian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's lightweight category.[2] Considered one of Europe's top female freestyle wrestlers in her decade, Giampiccolo has claimed two gold medals at the Mediterranean Games (2001 and 2005), scored a silver in the 62-kg division at the 2001 World Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and also finished tenth at the 2004 Summer Olympics, representing her nation Italy. Throughout her sporting career, Giampiccolo trained full-time for Polisportiva Mandraccio Wrestling Club in Genoa, under her personal coach Lucio Caneva.[1]

Diletta Giampiccolo
Personal information
Full nameDiletta Giampiccolo
Nationality Italy
Born (1974-07-27) 27 July 1974
Catania, Italy
Height1.56 m (5 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubPolisportiva Mandraccio[1]
CoachLucio Caneva[1]
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Italy
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place2001 Tunis62 kg
Gold medal – first place2005 Almería59 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2001 Sofia62 kg
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place1998 Bratislava56 kg
Bronze medal – third place1999 Götzis62 kg
Bronze medal – third place2005 Varna59 kg

Giampiccolo reached sporting headlines at the 2001 Mediterranean Games in Tunis, Tunisia, where she picked up the gold medal in the women's 62 kg class. Two months later, she captured the silver in the same class at the World Championships in Martigny, France, losing out to China's Meng Lili by a 3–0 verdict.[3] Her sporting success continued to flourish at the next two World Championships, but she left both tournaments empty handed with mediocre results.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Giampiccolo qualified for the Italian squad in the women's 55 kg class. Earlier in the process, she finished second from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tunis, Tunisia to guarantee her place on the Italian wrestling team.[4][5] She lost two straight matches each to China's Sun Dongmei with a 2–4 decision, and eventual Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan on technical superiority that left her on the bottom of the prelim pool, placing eleventh in the final standings. With Puerto Rico's Mabel Fonseca being disqualified for failing the doping test on stanozolol, Giampiccolo upgraded her position to tenth.[6]

In 2005, Giampiccolo campaigned her title defense in the women's lightweight category (59 kg) at the Mediterranean Games in Almería, Spain to cap off her sporting career, overpowering the host nation's Seba Jimenez in the process.[7]

References
  1. "CONI Profile – Diletta Giampiccolo" (in Italian). Italian National Olympic Committee. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Diletta Giampiccolo". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. "Aanes tok VM-bronse" [Aanes took the bronze at World Champs] (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 25 November 2001. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  4. Abbott, Gary (17 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 55 kg/121 lbs. in women's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. "Diletta Giampiccolo verso Atene" [Diletta Giampiccolo goes to Athens] (in Italian). Corriere del Trentino. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  6. "Wrestling: Women's Freestyle 55kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  7. "Italia, altre 4 medaglie d'oro" [Italy claims four more gold medals] (in Italian). Corriere del Trentino. 5 July 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2014.


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