Written option 1:

Being the stoic goaltender he is, Gino only reluctantly joins the illustrious game show. He probably lost a bet or something to Corrigan, who is busy laughing his behind off that Gino has to participate.

Thankfully soccer is huge in Italy so Gino ia able to hold his own in some of the challenges, bar those that require a lot of running. Basketball also works decently well with his size coming in clutch since it makes hitting some throws easier for him.

Baseball and American Football are a little worse but still manageable, hitting and using your body is a part of hockey as well, while holding a stick kind of emulates holding a baseball bat, yet swinging is something else entirely apparently.

All in all Gino did much better than anticipatef and his dry humor endeared him to the audience.
They were very willing to look past his terrible performances in swimming related contests. After all Gino's element is not water, it's ice.