After no men picked for Olympics 2024 in artistic swimming, Italy’s Minisini says he’s ending career

ROME (AP) — With no men picked to compete in artistic swimming at the Paris Olympics, where they are eligible for the first time, a former world champion is ending his career this week.

At the Italian national championships, four-time worlds gold medalist Giorgio Minisini said he is competing for the last time at age 28.

“Obsession is a young man’s game,” Minisini, who was left off the Italian Olympic team in April, wrote on his Instagram account Tuesday.

Minisini and Bill May of the United States were the two most likely Olympic pioneers aiming to be picked for Paris as the first men to compete in artistic swimming. The sport debuted at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as synchronized swimming.

However, the 96 athletes picked by 18 different nations for the Olympics were all women.

“World Aquatics is very disappointed that no male artistic swimmers have been selected for Paris 2024,” the governing body said. “This should have been a landmark moment for the sport.”

The rules change by World Aquatics in December 2022 allowed up to two men to be selected in an eight-athlete squad for the Olympic open team event. The only other medal event in Paris is women’s duet.

Minisini specializes in the mixed duet event which is not yet on the Olympic program, and missed selection to the team event.

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May was on the U.S. team that won silver and bronze medals in team acrobatic routine at the past two world championships. At age 45, he did not make the Olympic team last month.

“All of us in the artistic swimming community need to work even harder to progress opportunities for male athletes in the sport,” said World Aquatics, which hopes to add a mixed duet event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.