At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Bruni won the silver medal in the 10 km marathon, behind Sharon van Rouwendaal. She initially finished in 3rd position, just behind world champion Aurélie Muller, but the latter was disqualified for obstructing Bruni at the finish line.[7][8] She has dedicated her medal to her girlfriend, Diletta Faina.[9]
She is a 10-time gold medalist at the European Open Water Swimming Championships.[10]
During the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, Bruni won the bronze medal in the 10 km and the silver medal in the 5 km team.[12]
In January 2020, with 73.9% of the votes, she won the LEN Award in the Cross-Country category, an award assigned by the European Swimming League to the best continental performers in aquatic disciplines.
In November 2021 she was inducted into the prestigious International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, entering the list of the best swimmers in the world ever.[13]
Works
Volevo solo nuotare (200.000 bracciate con Rachele Bruni), the Bruni’s biography written by the Italian author Luca Farinotti was published in 2020.[14] This book was very important in Italy as Rachele Bruni was the first Italian Olympic athlete to “come out”.[15] This news was deemed by the newspapers more interesting than her Olympic silver medal: instead Bruni tells the true sporting life of a woman. The book won Bancarella Selezione Sport, most prestigious sport books prize in Italy.[16][17]
References
^"Rachele Bruni". Rio 2016 Organizers. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
