The
accomplishments of Raphael Stacchiotti
LIMASSOL,
4 June 2009
- Who is this remarkable teenager from Luxembourg called
Raphael Stacchiotti?
He is
only one of the greatest athletes of the Grand Duchy and
one of the most promising swimmers at the XIII Games of
the Small States of Europe.
It was
therefore no coincidence that the youngster was the flag
bearer during last year’s Olympic Games in Beijing. The
17-year-old, born 9 March 1992, had reached the finest
moment in his budding career at the World Youth
Championships in Rio di Janeiro where he finished fourth
in the 200m freestyle event.
At this
year’s European Youth Championships in Prague, he will
be aiming to secure his first medal again in the 200m
freestyle event.
Stacchiotti, who is of Italian origin as his name hints,
can compete in all swimming events with the exception of
breaststroke race which is why he confidently set his
sights on eight gold medals at this year’s event.
What
was more even more remarkable was the fact that he was
chasing those medals in individual events seeing as
Luxembourg didn’t put forward a team in the men’s relay
event at the GSSE.
Stacchiotti didn’t manage to reach his ambitious target
after coming second in the 50m freestyle. But he took
his sixth gold medal in the 200m freestyle event today
and is now aiming for an incredible seventh in the 400m
medley on Friday.
Believe
it or not, the GSSE are not unknown territory for the
teenager. He took part in the Monaco Games of 2007
taking the gold medal in the 100m backstroke event at
just 15 years of age.
