Fair Play Menarini Award 2026: all the awarded champions

Countdown to the 30th edition of the Menarini International Fair Play Award which promotes the great values ​​of sport. An award given every year to champions on the national and international scene who, during their careers, have distinguished themselves as models of virtuous behaviour, on and off the pitch. Today in the CONI Hall of Honor in Rome the protagonists of the anniversary edition of the award were announced: from football to swimming, from fencing to Paralympic skiing, through athletics, basketball, speed skating and volleyball.

The announcement of the winners at CONI and the values ​​protected

“We are happily gathered in the CONI Hall of Honour, where there is the history of Italian sport and its values, for the thirtieth anniversary of the Menarini Fair Play Award. Thirty years is an important milestone, it is history: a path of certainties has been built, many champions have been rewarded – declares CONI President Luciano Buonfiglio – Today I am particularly happy because three very young people are being rewarded, a message that goes beyond the medals. Ethics, respect, legality are recognised, important values ​​to be protected and promoted: these three boys are an example.”

The sports champions awarded in this edition

Among the protagonists of the 30th edition is Armand Duplantis, world record holder in the pole vault. Representing the world of football, however, will be Gianfranco Zola. With them Gregorio Paltrinieri, a point of reference for world swimming, Achille Polonara, face of Italian basketball, Antonella Palmisano, queen of race walking, Chiara Mazzel, protagonist of Italian Paralympic skiing, and Daniele Garozzo, Olympic champion and ambassador of Italian fencing. Also taking to the stage at the Menarini Fair Play will be Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti, protagonists of the Italian speed skating exploits, together with Simone Anzani, one of the most representative faces of Italian volleyball.

The awards program and guests in Florence

The awards ceremony is expected on July 2nd at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino: an evening that will celebrate some of the most representative figures of international sport and which will see the collaboration of Sky TG24 again this year. The event will be hosted by Rachele Sangiuliano, Michele Cagiano and Omar Schillaci, flanked by great sports narrators such as Federico Buffa.

The winners of the Youth category and the Foundation’s comment

Fair play has no age. This is demonstrated by Matteo Pasqualetti, Gloria Tinaburri and Alberto Belluzzi, winners of the Menarini “Young” Fair Play Award. Three guys who remind everyone that fair play is a choice you make every day, in competition and in life. “For thirty years the Menarini Fair Play International Award has celebrated champions who have been able to leave a mark not only through their victories, but also through their way of experiencing sport – declare Luca Lastrucci, Valeria Speroni Cardi and Filippo Paganelli, members of the Board of the Fair Play Menarini Foundation – The stories of this edition’s winners remind us that respect, loyalty and fairness continue to be values ​​capable of uniting different generations and of speaking to those who love sport, on and off the pitch”.

The preview of June 15th

Before the grand finale, the path towards the 30th edition will stop on June 15th in Florence with the special Fiamme Gialle “Study and Sport” prizededicated to young talents who manage to combine school and competitive activities.