A Lube member rocked the Paris Games, sending his fans into raptures. Dream epilogue for the master of the house ‘Monsieur Babar’. The men’s volleyball tournament ended with the gold won forcefully in three sets by the France of the central Cucinero Barthelemy Chinenyeze, the fifth best block player (13 winning blocks in the tournament) and author of an applause-worthy performance also in the decisive match with the Poland, accompanied by the roars of the friendly public. The giant born in 1998 wore the second Olympic gold in a row around his neck after the one he won in Tokyo as the best center back. With the transalpine selection, the Lube athlete also boasts a gold (2022), a silver (2028) and a bronze (2021) at the VNL, and a gold (2017) at the World League. A path that makes Cucine Lube Civitanova proud and energized, thanks to the contractual extension until 2027 signed a few months ago by the player.
Barthelemy Chinenyeze: “With the second consecutive gold we did something legendary at the Olympics. It hasn’t happened for a very long time that a national team managed to confirm itself. France is in the history of volleyball. In this success there is also a lot of the two years so far spent in the red and white. On the other hand, I had chosen a great club like Lube precisely to raise my level as much as possible. Now I need it to catch my breath, but once I’ve recharged my batteries I will enthusiastically dive into the new SuperLega season with a renewed Lube. I can’t wait to team up with the group. It will be a different year from the previous ones and from my point of view I will have more more stimuli to help the team always keep its head high!”.
So much honour, but a medal missed in Friday’s match wearing the Italy jersey for libero Fabio Balaso, author of great interventions throughout the event, and spiker Mattia Bottolo, fundamental for keeping the level high in training, but not used in the races that mattered. The Azzurri lost 3-0 against the United States in the bronze medal match after the debacle against France. The Canada of Eric Loeppky, Lube’s new spiker, instead said goodbye to the event prematurely, but the athlete was able to stand out among the most incisive side players of the first offensive phase.
