Roncadelle, a town of 9200 people just outside Brescia in Lombardy, will not easily forget this August 1. Two golds in quick succession. First Giovanni De Gennaro in slalom canoeing and, soon after, Alice Bellandi in 78 kg judo. Both from Roncadelle, both able to propel this small, wealthy, industrious town into Olympic glory.

An area of small and medium industries, especially in the metal and metallurgical branch for one day the heart of Italian sports. Here De Gennaro began with canoeing almost by accident, driven by the insistence of his neighbor, Gianni Zanardello, later his first coach. Here Alice has all the affections, starting with her parents.

Also from Roncadelle are canoeist Stefanie Horn and Anna Danesi, captain of Italvolley. Right now, at the Olympic Games in Paris, Roncadelle has the same golds as Germany.

In the kayak final of the canoe slalom, 32-year-old Giovanni De Gennaro won an incredible gold after lining up 11 rivals in the deciding round. Coming down as fifth, he burned the Spaniard Echaniz by a few hundredths and then witnessed the "failures" of the athletes who came down after him. Italy thus returns to triumph in canoeing 12 years after Daniele Molmenti's success at the 2012 Londa Games.

In judo, however, 26-year-old Alice Bellandi won gold in the up to 78-kilogram category at the end of a star-studded day. The last act, the final for gold against Israel's Inbar Lanir, world champion in 2023, was hard-fought.