“Something beautiful happened today, a great friend of mine and an athlete who I respect very much has been chosen to be the standard bearer at the next Olympics and I can only be overjoyed for him“. This is the beautiful message published on social media by Gregorio Paltrinieri for Gianmarco Tamberi. Their friendship has deep roots: they met when the swimmer won Olympic gold in Rio 2016. Tamberi went to hug him, telling him that she wanted to become like him and achieve those goals. They had never spoken to each other and from that moment they became friends, discovering many passions in common.
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Tamberi and Errigo the blue standard-bearers in Paris
“No envy, they force me to…”
Just as Tamberi had no envy that day, today Paltrinieri felt only joy for his friend: “It is an incredible achievement, a great responsibility but also a privilege that we would all like to experience in our lives. A choice simply had to be made, probably even a subjective one, and as such, I accept the verdict. There is no envy or resentment in my soul at this moment. I’m happy to be able to follow him, together with Errigo (an incredible athlete too) in this great experience that is the Olympics.” Paltrinieri concluded her message by alluding to being able to get to Los Angeles 2028:”They told me that I would be standard bearer in 2021 but nothing, they told me then 2024 but nothing, they force me to… okay I won’t say it“.
