Marcel, Gimbo, Greg: Sorrows and pride of our champions

A strange and, to say the least, singular fate, the one shared by Marcel Jacobs and Gianmarco Gimbo Tamberi. In Tokyo, three years ago, on that unforgettable evening of 1 August, in a matter of minutes they passed together into the stargate of Italian and world sports legends, becoming Olympic champions respectively in the 100 metres and the high jump within minutes of each other (in an extraordinary Olympics that Jacobs would later complete with his triumph in the 4x100).

Yesterday, in more or less the same handful of minutes, first the 100-metre final which saw Jacobs proudly fifth forced to cede his sceptre as Olympia's fastest man to the phenomenal American Lyles, then the news via social media of a kidney stone resulting in a fever and exhaustion that put him at great risk, at this point, both the participation and obviously the very quality of Tamberi's performance in the race in which he will defend his Olympic gold medal, with the qualifiers scheduled for 7 August.

Wounded body and pride of champions called, this time too, to exceed their limits. Jacobs has already done so, reconfirming his place as finalist in the symbolic race of the Olympic Games, the only European among the fastest men in the world in a challenge in which the last placed man, Seville, finished in 9.91, a time better than the season's best recorded by the Italian all season (9.92, repeated in the semifinals and lowered in the final to an excellent 9.85). A sign that Marcel gave everything he had and had managed to put into the fuel, after three seasons of physical problems and with a change of coach and life in between (less than a year ago), with the move from Camossi to the American Rana Raider and the move from Rome to Florida. And that cramp or slightest muscular pain that he felt in his left leg, immediately after the finish line, reminds us how fragile is the physical balance of a champion who also legitimised on the St. Denis track what he did in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

His relationship with his body is complex, to say the least, even for Gimbo Tamberi; we need only recall the injury that deprived him, he who was the great favourite even then, of the Rio2016 Games; and then the plaster cast - a tangible symbol of that physical and moral pain - kept for years and displayed like a trophy on that magical and winning night in Tokyo. This was followed by other triumphs and victories, until this latest mishap, the stuff of a five-ring exorcism for our flag-bearer. The feeling is that this time, too, Tamberi will be able to resolve the duel with destiny in his favour by taking to the piste. The rest will be done by the heart and mind of the champion, called once again to jump over the bar and the obstacles imposed on him by a fate that is certainly not benevolent. And remember, Gimbo, that he must somehow recover that gold lost in the waters of the Seine in the form of the wedding ring lost during the opening ceremony....

In the waters of Paris (those, however, far more transparent than the pool of La Defense Arena), Gregorio Paltrinieri won a masterpiece silver medal. Tokyo was supposed to be his Olympics, but three years ago Greg arrived in Japan in the wake of a devastating mononucleosis. His response? A silver and a bronze between pool and open water, in the knowledge that under normal conditions the quantity and quality of those medals would probably have been much different and higher. Here in Paris, after three years at the Olympic Games, Paltrinieri secured the bronze medal in the 800 freestyle and a fantastic silver in the 1500 freestyle, behind only the American Finke, who confirmed himself as champion but who, in order to beat him, had to set a new world record over the distance, breaking a record (that of the debated Chinese Sun Yang) that had stood since London 2012. ''Damn you! I've been trying for ages, and you beat me by setting a world record?!": the joke in Roman dialect that Greg delivers to the microphones (after having given it to Finke himself immediately after the finish) perfectly captures the state of mind and the maturity reached by a champion (the only Italian swimmer to medal for three consecutive editions of the Games) whom we now await in open water, to increase our medal tally and his myth.