Chiara Belcastro

1 week ago | olympics.com | Scott Bregman |Chiara Belcastro

Sometimes seeing isn’t believing. At least that’s how Italian gymnast Alice D’Amato thinks she would have reacted if you’d shown her a photo of herself atop the Olympic balance beam podium a year ago. “That that photo had been created with ChatGPT and that it would just remain a photo,” D’Amato told Olympics.com of the hypothetical, laughing during an exclusive interview. “I never expected it… I didn’t even aim that high because I really never expected it.

1 week ago | olympics.com | Scott Bregman |Chiara Belcastro

Manila Esposito has quietly become the anchor of Italy’s gymnastics golden generation. The 18-year-old enters this week’s European Gymnastics Championships in Leipzig, Germany, as the defending champion in the women’s team, all-around, balance beam and floor exercise, and at the centre of a squad still riding the highs of a historic Olympic team silver medal last summer in Paris. “I hope that my character, my attitude will have a positive influence on my teammates,” Esposito told Olympics.com.