Gregorio Paltrinieri Wins Olympic Bronze 15 Minutes Before Fiancée Snags Fencing Gold

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Gregorio Paltrinieri‘s performance in the men’s 800 freestyle final on Tuesday at the 2024 Olympics in Paris was meaningful in more ways than one.

Not only did the 29-year-old become the first Italian swimmer to win a medal at three consecutive Olympics, but his girlfriend, Rossella Fiamingo, won gold just minutes later while competing in women’s fencing.

Paltrinieri led the men’s 800 free final for a large portion of the back half of the race, but ultimately settled for the bronze medal in a time of 7:39.38 after being overtaken by Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen (7:38.19) and defending champion Bobby Finke (7:38.75) down the stretch.

The third-place finish marked the fourth Olympic medal of Paltrinieri’s career, having won gold in the men’s 1500 free in Rio and then claiming silver in the 800 free and bronze in the open water 10km in Tokyo.

The final of the men’s 800 free officially started at 9:07 pm local time in Paris.

At 8:30 pm, the final match in the women’s team épée fencing event started, and one hour later, the Italian team had secured gold in the event, ousting the hosts from France by a final score of 30-29.

Paltrinieri officially touched for bronze at 9:18 pm, while the Italian fencing team won their match at 9:33.

The two won their medals some 15 minutes apart and stood on the podium nine minutes apart.

PER UN QUARTO D’ORA D’AMORE… ❤️

🥉 Greg Paltrinieri, ore 21.18
🥇 Rossella Fiamingo, ore 21.33#ItaliaTeam @Federscherma @FINOfficial_ pic.twitter.com/LeOgMV4xZv

— ItaliaTeam (@ItaliaTeam_it) July 30, 2024

Fiamingo, 33, was joined by teammates Mara Navarria, Giulia Rizzi and Alberta Santuccio.

Paltrinieri and Fiamingo have reportedly been dating since meeting at the Tokyo Olympics, and have since gotten engaged.

Like Paltrinieri, Fiamingo’s medal on Tuesday marked the third straight time she’s reached the podium at the Olympics, having won silver in the individual women’s épée in Rio and then taken silver in the team women’s épée in Tokyo.