08/08/2021
The Olympic flame that burns in the sacred brazier dear to the Gods is about to go out, an unequivocal sign of the end of the Games.
An end, however, only temporary as we will all meet in Paris in three years.
The Olympic Games wanted by Baron De Coubertin are not only a celebration of Sport where the excellences of any discipline and every nation meet, but they represent the highest and most sincere moment of the encounter between different peoples and cultures, where the different becomes opportunities for exchange and brotherhood.
For Italy it was an unforgettable Olympics, we have become hopelessly a leading nation of speed thanks to the exploits of the Jacobs band and the Top Ganna gold quartet, we have excelled in the eternal challenge of man with gravity thanks to the unforgettable fairytale by Gimbo Tamberi rewarded by work and self-denial after years of doubts, suffering and disappointment, we triumphantly crossed the Japanese waters thanks to Gregorio Paltrinieri, despite a terrible mononucleosis that had undermined the body but not the mind, to the sailors Tita and Banti who reminded us that they are a people of poets and navigators, to the rowing athletes Cesarini and Rodini who dedicated their gold to fellow Mondelli who died 4 months ago for a terrible tumor that took him away from our Olympic family.
But in addition to the many Italian successes, as always the Olympics leaves us unforgettable feats such as the incredible victories in the athletics of the Norwegian Vikings Warholm in the 400 hs U and Ingebrigtsen in the 1500 meters U, the first gold medal in history in athletics for an Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra who succeeds in triumphing in the javelin throw and will eternally remain a national hero for a nation that maximum had obtained a fourth place in the 400 meters U with Singh in 1960 in Rome.
It is also the Olympics of mum Allyson Felix who becomes the most medalized athlete in history having won 11 medals since Athens 2004 when she was 18 and she won silver in the 200 meters !!!
Beautiful stories like the bronze of the Russian child Naifonov who escaped the massacre of the Beslan school in Ossetia where he lost his mother who lost her life in the successful attempt to save him or like gold in the dives of the great but small Chinese peasant Quan Hongchan who competes to allow medical care to the seriously ill mother.
Stories of latest but proud athletes such as Houleye Ba from Mauritania who covered the 100 meters D in 15 "or Iro Er from the Salomon Islands who scored a time exceeding one minute in the 100 meters freestyle U.
And just as I write this, the United States is about to return first in the medal table thanks to the victory in women's volleyball by coach Kiraly's girls against the beautiful Brazilian girls.
All this glory, passion and love for Sport does not deserve to end up in oblivion for three years but must be nurtured, pushed and accompanied by all of us because it represents the true and unique essence of Sport.
A final mention for a show that made us laugh and move, the Circolo degli Anelli, led by a great Alessandra De Stefano assisted by the legendary gazelle Sara Simeoni, the very nice Yuri Chechi, the beautiful Elisa Di Francisca and the competent Domenico Fioravanti.
Thanks to Mamma Rai who, as usual, gives us emotions that will remain engraved in the ether and to Eurosport which has allowed us to follow these Olympics on demand in full.
Thank you for these two weeks that will remain forever in our hearts.
In Paris 2024
