The Italian Sofia Raffaeli won the first title in the history of Italy in the women’s all-around at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Sofia. She started with a club error, but then performed strongly in her remaining three sets and collected 133.250 points. Thus, Sofia Raffaeli finished the championship with five awards – four gold and one bronze.
“It was really emotional. I am very happy with this medal because it is important for me, for Italy, for my coaches. I tried to do the best I am capable of in this competition and I succeeded. I feel this city as my home because of the audience, because of the Bulgarian team and I am happy with the competition here. Next year I will try to be better and better every day. My favorite combination is the clubs, but here at the World Cup I did not play them in the best way. Everyone my compositions are very beautiful and they were made by my coach Julieta Cantaluppi”, said Sofia Raffaeli after the all-around.
The coach of the Italian gymnasts, Julieta Cantaluppi, is the daughter of Kristina Guiourova and the granddaughter of the legendary Bulgarian coach Julieta Shishmanova.
“It was very important to try to succeed in achieving this. It was not certain, but we tried and she succeeded. It is very important for me that we did it in Bulgaria, in front of a Bulgarian audience that I love very much. She didn’t play the best race of her life today. We started well, but she made one mistake and got a little nervous. I think the most important play was the tape because at the European Championships in Tel Aviv the same thing happened and I she was afraid of playing a bad tape, and she showed me how she has grown mentally in those months, and on the contrary, she played a very good tape. It’s a difficult device for everyone and it was important. The other two devices we just tried to hang on without dropping, it wasn’t the best of plays, but it was important not to drop”, said Julieta Cantaluppi. “The work is never easy, because every year you have to prove that you deserve the place. The quota is not nominal, so the struggle will be great, but it is good that we managed to win an Olympic quota two years before the Games. For the Italian ensemble it was very unexpected that she didn’t get a quota. But I don’t think that Sofia is destabilized by it or Milena Baldassari. However, it is an example that the competition can’t always go the way we want and that’s why it was a bit dangerous today. For next year we will try to to make more beautiful and difficult combinations, to invent new elements, to show new stories in the compositions”, added she.