Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
) is a Luxembourgish swimmer, who specialized in the freestyle and individual medley events. 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
The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) is a biennial multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino, organized by and featuring the National Olympic Committees of nine European small states since 1985. The Games are held at t ...
(2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019). At the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, 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
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.
.
Career
International career
Stacchiotti made his official debut, as Luxembourg's youngest athlete in history (aged 16) at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, where he was given the honour of carrying the nation's flag in the
opening ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.
Virdhawal Khade
Virdhawal Vikram Khade (born 29 August 1991) ( mr, विरधवल खाडे) is an Indian swimmer. He competed in the men's 50, 100, and 200 meters Freestyle swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, setting an Indian nat ...
Rome, Italy
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
...
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...
, 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
Ieuan David Lloyd (born 9 July 1993) is a Welsh competitive swimmer. He competed in both the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics for Team GB.
Biography
Born just outside Cardiff in 1993, Lloyd found his enthusiasm for swimming early o ...
by two-tenths of a second (0.20). He also collected a silver medal in the 400 m individual medley at 4:21.28.
At the
2011 FINA World Championships
The 14th FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and sy ...
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.
2012 Summer Olympics
Stacchiotti competed in an individual medley double, as a 20-year-old, at the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
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.
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
Ward Bauwens (born 4 May 1993 in Leuven) is a Belgian swimmer, who specialized in individual medley events. Bauwens is a resident athlete for Brabo Antwerp, and currently, a medicine student at the University of Antwerp.
Before his Olympic debu ...
. 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. 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”.