The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) has been cooperating with universities and institutions such as Ferrari as they work to produce equipment which will enable them to gain a competitive advantage in 2012.

Part of their plans involve setting up training camps for their athletes in countries which excel in particular sports.

Alberto Rabiti, secretary general of the Italian Volleyball Association, said: "Our beach volleyball boys will be staying for four months in the United States while the women's volleyball team will train in Rio de Janeiro for two months.

"Investing in our champions' preparation is crucial because we believe we have good chances in the London Games."

CONI have sent a delegation to London to ensure their athletes have everything they need to prepare for the Games.

The Italian Government is behind a lot of the funding for the efforts, ring fencing €445 million (£397 million/$645 million) for CONI.

Italy finished ninth in the overall medals table at Beijing in 2008 with a total of 28 medals, including eight gold.

The winners included boxer Roberto Cammarelle (pictured), who won the super heavyweight category.


But Italy have been steadily slipping in the medals table since finishing sixth at Atlanta in 1996 with 35 medals, 13 of which were gold.

They were seventh at Sydney in 2000 with 34 medals, 13 gold, and eighth at Athens in 2004 with 32 medals, 10 gold.

Football has been the main beneficiary of funding with almost a quarter of the Government contributions, with swimming, athletics and volleyball the next largest recipients.

The individual sports federations have also proven adept at generating their own funds, with the Volleyball Federation bringing in €40 million (£36 million/$58 million) per year from membership fees.

Though the federation will spend 70 per cent of its budget on directly training their athletes for next year's Games, they will also be investing in youth volleyball and setting up volleyball colleges for students.

Claudio Barbaro, a member of the Italian Parliament's Sports Committee, believes more should be spent on youngsters, explaining: "A lot of money goes into forging top athletes and as a result little is left for the mass of our students, this is a problem.

"Sports should not just be for champions and Olympic stars, but also for ordinary citizens' health, public fitness and wellbeing."

Barbaro continued, explaining how funding could be reformed in Italy.

She said: "There should be a centralized Sport Ministry that directly allocates resources and implements a sports policy.

"CONI should also fund sport promotion in schools and local authorities and should have a greater role in promoting sports culture and building structures."

But Valerio Vermiglio, captain of the Italian men's volleyball team, defended the high level of funding for athletes, saying; "Sports are part of a population's cultural growth and athletes embody positive sports values."

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