Olympics, Greg, fairies, spadists: medals for history and memory

Paris - First a murmur of disappointment, then fair-play applause, then silence. Then finally the Mameli hymn, sung by our female swordsmen on the top step of the podium, and a handful of Italians, waving in the wind (or rather the icy air conditioning shot from huge vents under the dominating vaults of the Grand Palais).

There could not have been a sweeter soundtrack for our women's epee team's triumph against the French hosts. We really liked it that way: before and during the assault the Marseillaise, then Mameli for the grand finale. Conclusion embroidered by Alberta Santuccio, a Djokovic without racket (and violin) but with a very sharp blade, considering what she told us still fresh from the gold around her neck:' The contrary cheering? It didn't bother me, on the contrary it exhilarated me! We were ready for anything, mentally we managed to empty the Grand Palais, the fans couldn't hear them, it was just us and them on the piste. The last hit? I just wanted to turn on my light, I succeeded!" Now a much more arduous task awaits her, the wedding preparations postponed precisely in the name of the Olympic goal.

The artistic gymnastics girls are also rightfully in history, with a silver medal that had been missing for 96 years, and behind the Americans led by Simone Biles: sorry if that's not enough.

Little he is not, indeed he is immense, Gregorio Paltrinieri, on the podium for the third Olympics in a row, in the 800 freestyle, which he also tried to win with a blitz of his own. Those were supposed to be his Games in Tokyo, scarred instead by the pandemic for everyone, and for him by a mononucleosis that did not prevent him from bringing home two medals between pool and open water. Perhaps now, having celebrated this bronze together with his golden girlfriend, the epee player Rossella Fiamingo, he might want to make up for it with interest....A margin, but not so much, on the negative notes, with Italy Team losing Paolini in individual tennis and, above all, Irma Testa, bronze in Tokyo and immediately out of the boxing tournament in which she was the great favourite. In a medal count still to be defined (where is Germany? But it will come soon...) an exploit is already needed to imagine being able to exceed the 40 medals of Tokyo.