After taking silver in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai were named as Athletes of the Year at the Parma Sports Awards.
The beach players were recoginized for their efforts on Copacabana Beach, where they needed to go through the loser route of the tournament after finishing third in their pool. They took down Italian rivals Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula to begin a run.
From that point on in the Rio games, they only lost one match to number one seeds and reigning world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt in the gold medal matchup.
The silver medal secured Italy’s first ever Olympic Beach Volleyball medal.
“Playing beach volleyball on Copacabana Beach against a Brazilian team, who were playing at home and in front of their own fans, was an historic moment and unforgettable,” the pair said in a statement.
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