Giorgio Poggi (born 26 August 1981 in Albenga) is an Italian sailor who specializes in the Finn class.[2] He has been selected to compete for the Italian sailing team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has come close to an Olympic medal race in the Finn fleet (finishing in eleventh place). Currently, Poggi is ranked nineteenth in the world for his respective sailing class by ISAF, following some of his successes at the Finn Gold Cup, World Championships, and the World Cup series.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Italy |
| Born | 26 August 1981 Albenga, Italy |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) |
| Sailing career | |
| Class | Dinghy |
| Club | G.S. Fiamme Gialle[1] |
| Coach | Valentin Mankin (personal) Michele Marchesini (national)[1] |
Biography
editPoggi started sailing at the age of twelve and then first competed as an Optimist and Laser specialist. In 2006, he gained weight and decided to move to the heavier Finn class. Throughout his pre-Olympic career, Poggi had produced a total of six gold medals in different sailing classes at the Italian national championships (from 2002 to 2008). While competing in the sport, Poggi worked as a member of the police force and sailing fleet for Gruppi Sportivi Fiamme Gialle, under the tutelage of his well-accomplished coaches: 2004 Olympian Michele Marchesini and three-time Olympic champion Valentin Mankin of the former Soviet Union.[1]
Leading up to his Olympic debut, Poggi managed to get 169 points to place nineteenth and assure one of the six available Olympic berths at the ISAF Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne, Australia.[3][4] At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Poggi sailed a marvelous stretch to record a net grade of 74 after eight races in the Finn class, but missed out a chance to compete for the Olympic medal by just eight notches behind Spain's Rafael Trujillo, finishing in eleventh overall.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c "CONI Profile – Giorgio Poggi" (in Italian). Italian National Olympic Committee. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Giorgio Poggi". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Ben makes it five". International Finn Association. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Giorgio Poggi ci regala la qualifica Olimpica" [Giorgio Poggi gave the Italians an Olympic qualifying berth] (in Italian). G.S. Fiamme Gialle. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Beijing 2008: Men's Finn Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
External links
edit- Giorgio Poggi at World Sailing
- Giorgio Poggi at Olympics.com
- Giorgio Poggi at Olympedia
- Giorgio Poggi at NBC 2008 Olympics website at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 January 2014)
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 10 July 2019) (in Italian)
