Olympics, the day of beautiful and imperfect medals
The six Italian medals become reality in just under six hours
by Dario Ricci
2' min read
2' min read
Paris - "The day of disappointments", "the curse of the fourth places", "without medals": the headlines were already ready, the email with the right piece just to be polished was about to go out (indeed, in many cases it had already started...). But this is the Olympic Games, the ideal scenario to make if not credible, at least plausible even the most extreme reality. In short, a sports metaverse that mixes perspectives, judgements, perceptions.
And so, when the context just described was one step away from materialising, here were the six Italian medals becoming reality in just under six hours. A haul that, on a single Olympic day, we had not collected for 24 years. And when you get inside the folds of these metals, now welded like indestructible alloys around the necks of their more than deserving owners, you discover that they are all daughters and fruit of the first matrix of the Italian journey to the land of Olympia: that is, imperfection, the seed that humanises and enlivens, brings the myth closer and makes it tangible. Take the gold medal of Consonni-Guazzini, who should not have been the starting pair of the madison; or Nino Pizzolato's decisive stand, reviewed 'al Var' by the judges in favour of the Italian, or the bronze redemption of Simone Alessio, big favourite in taekwondo (and he was already a favourite in Tokyo, where he stayed out of the medals round), or Sofia Raffaeli's bronze in the rhythmic all around, the result of suffering and will more than technical precision, or Nadia Battocletti's silver won with a burning tendon in her left leg (and if there had been another five metres, dear Nadia, your medal would now have golden highlights!) or Andy Diaz third in the triple jump, he who was given the green light to compete for the Italian team in the middle of the Olympics, on 1 August, and who wore the national team jersey for the first time on the day of the Olympic qualification here in St. Denis! And for this reason all the more beautiful and shining.
