He was ready for the Paris Olympics, for which he had qualified with his foil companions. He wanted the third medal, after the gold in Rio 2016 and the silver in Tokyo 2020. He only had one step missing: the fitness visit in view of Paris. But that gave him a nasty surprise: “The time has come to announce my retirement from competitive activity and there are many emotions I feel” writes the Sicilian champion on social media. “It is a decision that arose from circumstances beyond my control – my heart was “injured” – but which I accept with serenity.”
Italy’s foil team overwhelms the world champions of Japan: Marini & C. in Olympic form
by Mattia Chiusano
February 25, 2024
Garozzo: “Grateful to fencing for everything I’ve had”
Daniele Garozzo had played the entire World Cup season leading up to Paris, presenting himself as a pillar of that team that wants to win gold at the Grand Palais. With a generation of young people like Tommaso Mariniworld champion in Milan, o Filippo Macchi. Florist players who grew up in the myth of the child who trained in a garage in Acireale, and then left as a boy and settled in Frascati to become number one. What he managed to be in Rio, while in Tokyo only the champion of Hong Kong Cheung Ka Long denied him his second consecutive gold. He wanted to try again, before giving up he consulted various specialists but there was nothing that could be done. “In all these years” continues Garozzo on social media, “I have been lucky enough to experience an extraordinary adventure in the world of sport, culminating in the victory of an Olympic gold and silver. It was a journey made of sacrifices, commitment and passion, joys, satisfactions and friendships that I would never have imagined. I remember like it was yesterday when I started practicing this wonderful sport. If I close my eyes I still see myself in the garage gym in Acireale throwing millions of hits against a dummy, dreaming of one day winning the Olympics. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love fencing. I loved her with tireless dedication and with all my heart, and I worked hard, but all of this brought me to the results I had dreamed of. Now, as I close this chapter of my life as an athlete, I am grateful for every moment and experience that has made me the person I am today.”
Garozzo: “As a doctor I will deal with cardiological conditions”
The man who brought Italian foil back to the top after the golden era of Cerioni, Numa, Borellaand after the blaze of Alessandro Puccini in Atlanta ’96, he lives with his girlfriend Alice Volpi, also a champion in Milan. They recently moved from Monte Porzio to a house closer to the University of Tor Vergata where Garozzo already works as a doctor after graduating from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery with 110 cum laude. “It’s very hard to keep training, competitions, lessons and exams together” he complained in an interview with Republic, denouncing the lack of flexibility among those who want to combine university and sporting activities at the highest level. “Looking to the future” writes the foil player, “I had already decided for some time to dedicate my professional life to medicine, today with an even clearer objective: to study and disseminate the often unknown cardiological conditions that can afflict the sporting population. My personal experience has shown me how important it is to carry out effective awareness-raising work on these issues to ensure better prevention and optimal management of athletes of all levels. I am aware that I am the luckiest guy I know. I made my sporting dreams come true, I traveled all over the world with amazing friends and I found my best friend and life partner on the fencing platforms. Many have helped me along this path, and I would like to thank them all, today and as I have always done in the past. Above all my Master Fabio Galli, who taught me first to become a man, then a champion. Even if everyone only saw me on the platform, there were always two of us throwing and taking those hits.”
