Sassari The Italian walking champions are from Sassari. The “heel and toe” specialists of Studium et Stadium have won the Italian title of master walking club for the second consecutive year and this happens at a special moment for the club which is celebrating its 70th year of activity.
Antonella Pais, Laura Meloni, Simona Cossu, Maria Carmela Solinas, Eleonora Grandolfo, Rita Atzeni, Elena Falchi, Gianfranca Migheli, Donatella Cau, Loredana Salis, Lia, Melis, Monica Piras, Marilena Brandis, Ketty Virdis and Patrizia Maruca On June 21st in Rome they conquered the first position in the rankings allowing Studium to relive the dream of national primacy and repeating last year’s success thanks also to the technical support of two champions of the race walk Mauro Pirino e Salvatore Dettori.
The march Growing the race walk by making it popular among women and diversifying the activities also in other collateral federal sectors was the ambitious challenge of Studium after the return to the track of the Pini stadium of two old recruits of the Sassari race walk of the late 80s, Mauro Pirino and Maria Carmela Solinas. Maria Carmela, daughter of Giuseppe Solinas seven times Sardinian walking champion in the 70s, as a teenager she was the first woman in Sassari to have practiced and introduced walking in the Studium. Pirino, multiple Italian master walking champion, is involved with his Gruppo Sardo del Cammino in the diffusion of fitwalking together with Piera Pinna. And it was precisely the idea of keeping fit with this particular fast walk, conceived and spread in Italy by the former Olympian Maurizio Damilanoto ignite the passion for walking in the increasingly large group of women.
The team Now this “Onda Azzurra”, followed in the walking technique by Pirino himself with Salvatore Dettori has transformed into a real women’s walking team, confirming the highest podium at national level after the one in 2023 and bringing the second championship to Sassari as a worthy celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Studium et Stadium.
A great satisfaction for the company led by the president Enrico Pinna and Sandro Bronzini and for many of these emerging athletes with important placings and times, but also with medals at an individual level: gold in the senior female age group 60-64 years for Antonella Pais; bronze for Laura Meloni (50-54 years) and for Simona Cossu (40-44 years).
70 years old Studium owes its birth to the Office of Physical Education and Sports of the Education Authority of Sassari and to the initiative of a group of teachers from the Azuni High School: Gaetano Mezzacapohistorical headmaster of the Sassari high school; Torquato Pons first president of the newly formed Studium (from 1954 to 1970) and Domenico Fracassi, professor of physical education at Azuni, together with technicians such as Giancarlo Manca, Mario Casu, Clemente Guarino and Armandino Branca which with the sports movement intended to allow the student mass to continue the activity of the Institute championships even outside the school environment. Hence the derivation of the name, precisely “Studium et Stadium”.
School and talents Already in the very first years the school will represent a very important breeding ground for athletes, some of whom will soon stand out for the brilliant results achieved at regional and national levels. Between these Vittorio Urigo, Giulio Spanu, Charles Marcetti, Tore Masia, Pierfranco Terrosu e Milena Sanna.
Vittorio Urigo The tragic event of the death of one of the strongest sprinters of the time, Vittorio Urigo, which occurred in 1963, and the firm desire of the company and his family to remember him with a great event, marked the birth of the memorial which for several years competed for the primacy of importance at a national level thanks to the numerous champions hosted.
Seventies In the meantime, Studium secured the collaboration of two managers who already had profound knowledge of the discipline, Francesco Bronzini and Enrico Pinna.
In 1970 the president is Stephen Mario Mundula. They enter the Studium world as technicians, after having been athletes for a long time, Angelino Cossu and Pasquale Ottaiano leaving an indelible memory in the history of the association for the passion and ability to recruit promising young people from the school.
At the same time, in the seventies, Studium also made itself known in race walking thanks to the Pinna brothers, Giuseppe with the Sardinian record in the 10 km and Pierpaolo with the regional title, as well as the Carta brothers and Giuseppe Solinas seven times Sardinian champion and long-time holder of the Sardinian record in the 20 kilometers.
Skating In 1979, the Skating section called “Roller Group” was born within the Studium thanks to the commitment of technicians Mario Bronzini and Franco Campusand of the president Francis Bronzini. She recently celebrated her 45th birthday.
90’s In the 90s, the baton at the helm of the company was passed from Stefano Mario Mundula to the historic vice Francesco Bronzini (who held it until 1994, the date of his death), with Mundula appointed honorary president.
New cycle With the passing of Angelino Cossu in 2005 and then of Pasquale Ottaiano (2015) the company was forced to reprogram a new competitive life cycle, with Salvatore Dettori in the race walk representing the starting point, supported by emerging but very vital technicians such as Luigia Pinna, Stefania Denurra in the youth sector e Nicola Call in the launch sector.
Today Studium boasts 110 members, a walking team at the top of the Italian championships thanks also to the integration of the fitwalking group of Mauro Pirino and Piera Pinna with over 60 new members and finally the introduction to the sport of many young people from the area. A beautiful reality in full evolution generated by solid and quality foundations.
