The gender gap is almost solved: this time there are 194 women versus 209 men. Total: 403 athletes. It's the largest Olympic expedition ever for Italy: here's how the various regions contributed. More athletes from the North, the South is more successful.

36 blue jerseys in Paris were born abroad, not new; in Tokyo 2020 there were even more, 46. Of these, three were born in the United States: Marcell Jacobs (track and field) in El Paso, Texas; Alex Sorgente (skateboarding) in Boynton Beach, Florida; and Giancarla Dimich Trevisan (track and field) in Laguna Niguel, California.

Northern Italy dominates with Lombardy sending 70 athletes, followed by Lazio 43, Tuscany 38, Veneto 32, Emilia-Romagna 28. Campania with 25 is the leader in the South. At the back Calabria 5, Abruzzo and Basilicata 2. First and second places are unchanged from the edition in Japan, only the third changes where Tuscany overtakes Veneto. Two regions are absent in Paris: Val d'Aosta and Molise.

From the South, including the islands, come 66, 16.37 percent of the total, while these same regions, Campania, Molise, Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata, Sicily and Sardinia, represent more than 31 percent of the Italian population. And in Tokyo, 17 out of 69 won a medal. The South with fewer facilities and lower recruiting base wins more, but the truth is that it is mostly the periphery, wherever it is, that suffers.

Jannik Sinner to play tennis had to go down from the mountains of San Candido, in the province of Bolzano, to Liguria (Bordighera) and then move to Monte Carlo. One leaves home to migrate elsewhere. One goes to the federal centers, where there are better situations or where one's heart beats. Swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri as a teenager left Carpi, province of Modena, for Rome, boxer Irma Testa from Naples moved to Assisi, swimmer Benedetta Pilato from Taranto to Turin, diver Chiara Pellacani from Rome went to Miami, Apulian marcher Antonella Palmisano from Mottola to Ostia, Marcell Jacobs himself after a life in Desenzano, province of Brescia, had moved to Rome and is now in Florida.