“At the Olympics you will bring a message of peace against the stupidity of starting wars”. It is one of the passages of the speech given by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to the athletes leaving for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Mattarella handed over the Tricolor to the flag bearers of the Olympic team, Arianna Errigo and Gianmarco Tamberi, and Paralympian, Luca Mazzone and Ambra Sabatini.
European Athletics Championships, Mattarella congratulates Iapichino, Jacobs and the other Italian winners in the stands
The ceremony in the Quirinale Gardens was opened by the Mameli anthem performed by the joint musical band and by the screening of a video celebrating the Tokyo 2020 medals. “At the Games – said Mattarella – you will also send another important message in this international period : the United Nations Assembly has asked for an Olympic truce on the model of what happened in ancient Greece, I don’t know if it will happen, because this request clashes with the obtuseness of those who start wars, but the message that you will send with your colleagues from other countries is an equally important message of coexistence, friendship, collaboration.”
And again: “I make no predictions for Paris: I am certain of one thing, that you will put all your effort into solidarity between yourselves, which is evident and is a value of great importance for the serenity of the commitment; in sporting loyalty; with respect towards competitors, the so-called adversaries, who are competitors who contribute to the desire to overcome one’s limits, to reach new goals. You will do all this with loyalty, solidarity, with respect for others and this will be your first victory, our first victory too.”
Tamberi’s gold medal jump at the European Athletics Championships
Arianna Errigo is moved at the Quirinale
Arianna Errigo, three Olympic medals in foil, will be the standard bearer with Tamberi of the team. At the Quirinale, his emotion: “”As the standard bearer of Italy, I want to represent us, mothers and athletes, and their dreams. I want to tell women to believe in what you want, always”. Errigo struggled to hold back his tears: “Being with you is an immense emotion. When I found out I was the standard bearer I didn’t sleep for several nights. Emotions are everything for me, with fencing I’ve experienced many, but recently Life has given me two huge ones, my two children. I suffered a lot, the effort is a lot, training is difficult and there are worries about the first ailments, but I did it and I’m proud of that.”
President Mattarella dedicated a passage of his speech to Errigo: “I would like to congratulate her, in addition to the many she has often received, for her fencing successes and also for this excellent ability to cope with two different commitments: that of a mother and a champion, an extraordinary demonstration.”
2024 Olympics, Mattarella to the Azzurri: “I broke the protocol twice at the athletics stadium, but it was worth it”
Mattarella to Tamberi: “You put on a Hitchcock thriller”
“I would like to say to Gianmarco Tamberi – added the head of state – that the more I think about the evening the day before yesterday, the more I doubt whether he actually wanted to deliberately implement a sort of thrilling of the type found in Hitchcock’s films , with those two zero jumps at 2.29 and then calmly going to 2.37, basically a bit like what Larissa Iapichino did last night, reserving the silver medal for the last jump, the last attempt.” .
