Raphaël Stacchiotti (born 9 March 1992 in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgish swimmer, who specialized in the freestyle and individual medley events.[1][2] He is a four-time Olympian (2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), a multiple-time Luxembourgian record holder in all freestyle and medley events, and a double European junior champion. Stacchiotti also holds numerous meet records and collects a total of 49 medals (40 golds, seven silvers, and two bronzes) from the Games of the Small States of Europe (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019). At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Stacchiotti became the youngest athlete (aged 16) to be chosen by the Luxembourg squad, and was given the honor of carrying the nation's flag in the opening ceremony.
Career edit
International career edit
Stacchiotti made his official debut, as Luxembourg's youngest athlete in history (aged 16) at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he was given the honour of carrying the nation's flag in the opening ceremony.[3][4] He qualified for the men's 200 m freestyle by eclipsing a FINA B-cut of 1:50.30 from the FINA World Junior Championships in Monterrey, Mexico.[5][6] Stacchiotti challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including India's 16-year-old Virdhawal Khade and Czech Republic's three-time Olympian Květoslav Svoboda. He rounded out the field to last place by 0.15 of a second behind Khade in 1:52.01. Stacchiotti failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-ninth overall out of 58 swimmers in the prelims.[7]
In 2009, Stacchiotti earned his first ever career gold medal in the 200 m individual medley (2:02.56) at the European Junior Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.[8] Two weeks later, at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Stacchiotti placed forty-seventh in the 200 m individual medley (2:05.51), thirty-fifth in the 400 m individual medley (4:26.63), and forty-fifth in the 200 m freestyle (1:49.61, a Luxembourgish record).[9][10][11]
At the 2010 European Junior Swimming Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Stacchiotti stormed home on the final lap to defend his 200 m individual medley title in 2:02.52, holding off Great Britain's Ieuan Lloyd by two-tenths of a second (0.20).[12] He also collected a silver medal in the 400 m individual medley at 4:21.28.[13]
At the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, Stacchiotti failed to reach the semifinals in any of his individual events, finishing twentieth each in the 200 m individual medley (2:00.87) and 400 m individual medley (4:20.64), both with a personal textile best and a new Luxembourgish record.[14][15]
2012 Summer Olympics edit
Stacchiotti competed in an individual medley double, as a 20-year-old, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He achieved Olympic invitation times (formerly a FINA B-standard) of 2:00.22 (200 m individual medley) and 4:18.98 (400 m individual medley) from the European Long Course Meet in Luxembourg City.[16][17][18]
On the first day of the Games, Stacchiotti placed eighteenth in the 400 m individual medley. Swimming in heat two, he blasted a new Luxembourgian record of 4:17.20, but came up short in second place by nearly half a second (0.50) behind Belgium's Ward Bauwens.[19] Four days later, in the 200 m individual medley, Stacchiotti registered a time of 2:00.38, just a small fraction outside his own record, but missed the semifinals by a tenth of a second (0.10) behind Canada's Andrew Ford.[20] Ending up with frustration and disbelief, Stacchiotti failed in what was to be his most surprising moment of all time: "It's my fault. I completely lost my rhythm during the breaststroke”.[21]
Personal bests edit
- As of July 4, 2023.
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References edit
- ^ a b "Raphaël Stacchiotti". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Raphaël Stacchiotti". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- ^ "Olympic profile: Raphael Stacchiotti makes a splash for Luxembourg". Luxemburger Wort . 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- ^ "List of Flagbearers Beijing 2008" (PDF). Olympics. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ^ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Men's 200m Freestyle" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 13. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ Cametti, Camilo (9 July 2008). "Monterrey 2008, Day 2: Izotov (RUS) And Ayoama (JPN) the best". FINA. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
- ^ "Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 4". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- ^ "European Junior Championships: European Junior Record Book Torched; Few National Records Fall as Well". Swimming World Magazine. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "2009 FINA World Championships (Rome, Italy) – Men's 200m Individual Medley Heats" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "2009 FINA World Championships (Rome, Italy) – Men's 400m Individual Medley Heats" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "2009 FINA World Championships (Rome, Italy) – Men's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "European Junior Championships: Bence Biczo Drops Hammer in 200 Fly, Yannick Agnel, Emma Saunders Turn in Strong Times". Swimming World Magazine. 16 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "European Junior Championships: Yannick Agnel Posts Meet-Record 200 Free, Anton Lobanov Strong In 100 Breast". Swimming World Magazine. 18 July 2010. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "2011 FINA World Championships (Shanghai, China) – Men's 200m Individual Medley Heats" (PDF). Omega Timing. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "2011 FINA World Championships (Shanghai, China) – Men's 400m Individual Medley Heats". Omega Timing. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Euro Long Course Meet: Laurent Carnol, Ioannis Drymonakos Set Meet Records; Post Early Season Bellwether Marks; Ian Thorpe Competes". Swimming World Magazine. 28 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "Qualifying Athletes – Men's 200 m individual medley" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Qualifying Athletes – Men's 400 m individual medley" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "Men's 400m Individual Medley Heat 2". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "Men's 200m Individual Medley Heat 2". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "Frustration as Stacchiotti just fails semifinals". Luxemburger Wort . 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
External links edit
- Raphaël Stacchiotti at World Aquatics
- Raphaël Stacchiotti at Swimrankings.net
- Raphaël Stacchiotti at Olympedia
- NBC Olympics profile at archive.today (archived 2013-04-11)
- Raphaël Stacchiotti at Olympics.com
- Raphaël Stacchiotti at the Comité Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois (in French)
- Raphaël Stacchiotti on Instagram
