Italian president receives Olympic athletes

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano recieved medal-winning athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic teams at the presidential palace in Rome on Wednesday. Complimenting the returning athletes, the Italian president said, "even if we tend to speak badly of ourselves, when we want we can excell more than we even believe we can". Speaking to the athletes from the Paralympic teams, Napolitano said that their performance was a "great life lesson and reason for pride". Italy won eight gold medals, nine silvers and 11 bronzes for an overall total of 28, one more than the team achieved in Beijing in 2008 and well over the minimum target set by Gianni Petrucci, the head of the Italian Olympic Committee. Paralympic athletes brought home nine golds, eight silvers and 11 bronzes for an overall total of 28.