Press Day kick starts Sprint Worlds
- Published: 09 July 2015
105 nations and over 2000 people are ready in the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships Milan from 19 - 23 August; the competition will also act as the first and main opportunity to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
On a wonderful sunny day, a host of journalists arrived for the Championships Press Day at Marino’s Palace, Milan.
They were treated to an event presentation, plus a question and answer session with Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian Olympic Committee, Luciano Buonfiglio (Head of Italian Canoe Federation), Antonio Rossi (Olympic Gold Medal and Head of regional Lombardia Sport Department) and members of Milan city.
Luciano Buonfiglio, Head of Italian Canoe Federation, said, “In this last four years our world has changed. After the 2010 Canoe Polo World Championship we decided to start with another important challenge. This event will be the top and Italy is ready to host it.”
“The World Championship will start in 50 days and all is ready. Not only sport here in Milan. With canoe and paracanoe races, all athletes and delegations will discover Expo, Italian style, culture, food and hospitality. We can’t fail and all aspects of the organisation have been tested during last year world cup in Milan 2014. We’ve solved past problems and improved our actions to become more qualified.”
Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian Olympic Committee, commented, "Milan adds another important piece to the big events in recent years. It will be an event in which highlights the excellence of Italy, both from the sporting point of view but also from the point of view of tourism and hospitality. It will be an intense week in August and I’m sure will be a great success.”
During press conference, Eddy the official mascot of Milan 2015 was also launched.
Created by mixing mother “Water” and father “Power”, Eddy represents the paddler’s energy in his/her powerful propulsion in the water. Proposed by Paolo Dockrill, Eddy has been selected from a group of thirty different candidates in what was an official bidding set by the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation.