They were there to face each other sixteen nations and Italy prevailed, with a duo made up of a woman from Valle d’Aosta and a man from Veneto. Natalie Gambatwenty-two years old Pont-Saint-Martin member of “Bassa Valle Helvetia”, participated in the mixed bowls relay world championships to Saint Vulbas, in eastern France, from 8 to 11 May. Leading Italy was then another Aosta Valley native, the technical commissioner Roberto Favre. This result crowns her first Aosta Valley world bowls champion.
The sport of bowls is more multifaceted than you might think. AND’ first of all divided into two macro specialties: tests traditional And alternatives, branched in turn into subcategories. At the world championship both specialties competed, but Natalie specializes in the second, which includes running teststogether with the use of bowls.
Specifically, the young athlete competed in the mixed relay together with Ivan Soligon, twenty-four year old from Vazzola, in the province of Trevisoof theMarenese Bowling Union. This competition consists of five minute runshared in two and a half minutes between the two teammates, during which they must hit a target with the bowl that they find at the two poles of the field, supported by a stand. It’s done, running, back and forth twice, throwing four misses each, alternating until the five minutes are up. Whoever hits the target the most times wins. “The faster you are, the more likely you are to score high,” explains Natalie. “In fact it is a very demanding physical test and is relegated to a fairly narrow age range.”
The success of the competition, between difficulty and satisfaction
“Ivan and I already knew each other but not very well. But we immediately hit it off,” comments the girl. The two athletes performed four tests, one per day. Wednesdayon qualifying day, they struck 51 out of 58 targets pulled, finishing second. Thursday they competed against the Perucentering 49 out of 58 targets. VFriday, in the semifinal, they challenged there Türkiye, but “it didn’t go very well, we got it 47 points out of 58” explains the spokeswoman “The test that went best of all was the final, also because we won!” She was against it Croatiaand they hit the mark 54 times on 59 (against the opponents’ 50).
“The environment was not easy”, admits Natalie. “There have been various misunderstandings with the staff, but I’m happy I managed to stay focused on what I had to do without letting myself be influenced by external problems. This made me proud.” In fact, she adds that in general in this sport “you have to try to isolate yourself as much as possible from everything that happens around you, because the slightest distraction leads you to shoot crookedly or too long or short. Must shoot at a target that is twenty meters away while running, so you need maximum concentration“.
Furthermore, it must be considered that “also It’s never easy with food, being abroad we have to adapt to different eating habits,” he points out. “Then ours hotel was 30 kilometers from where we playedso every evening we had to drive forty minutes. The staff was tense and you could feel it”.
How did you get there, at the World Cup?
This was for Natalie la second time at the World Championshipsas he had taken part in November 2023 at Women’s and mixed World Championships in Rumilly, Haute-Savoiealways competing in the relay with his sister Gaia. Despite the disqualification before the semi-finals, the spokesperson recognizes the value of this experience: “It was beautiful because it made me understand that I am capable of being in that contextand that was within my reach.”
It’s been as long as he has 10 years that Natalie practices this sport and come on 14 is part of the Italian Serie A teammade up of six other teams from northern Italy.
“My grandfather played bowls his whole life and she was strong enough” she introduces, specifying however that this is not the primary reason why she approached this sport.
In 2014 i his parents took over the management of the Pont-Saint-Martin bowling green, so Natalie and Gaia, still children, were often there with them. “We often saw these children playing bowls, so one day, since the president organized courses for childreni, asked us if we wanted to try, and we we tried”.
And they continue, driven by passion and affection for squad of which they are part. “I like her because she makes me empty your head And I do it because I enjoy it“, Natalie expresses. “I will stop when I realize I no longer feel like training and it becomes heavy. For now for me It’s a real pleasure to play bowls”.
Natalie he trains twice a week on the pitch, plus two or three days of athletic training, including running, exercises and breathing. “Usually we warm up, we discuss how the Sunday match went and then the coach, Andrea Péaquinmakes us do relay relays for example.”
The next sporting goals
Reaching this high “is every athlete’s dream, but I never expected it could happen to me”, confides the athlete, who maintains his determination. “For now I feel like I’ve reached my maximum goal. As they say it’s easy to climb but staying at the top is very difficult, so I will continue to work to bring home results, but in general I live the day.”
This weekend his team will play the final which would be held next Sunday in Chieri. After that, the next sporting stages scheduled are a friendly Italy-France match on 8 and 9 June Feltrein the province of Belluno, which takes place every year, and then we aspire to participate in the European Championships in Türkiye in October.
Dreams beyond bowls, interest in history and economics
Once she returned from the World Cup, Natalie was greeted by a great one surprise party. “I expected my family to wait for me, but not like this!”, she expresses her amazement. “They made me a cake with my photo and all my friends were there. With this result of mine I think I thrilled my parents a little. In my family it’s daily bread to talk about bowls.”
However, alongside sport he has much more: he is in his third year at the Faculty of History of the University of Turin And work in one accounting firm in Pont-saint-Martin, whose boss is the vice president of the bowling club to which he belongs. Natalie keeps the accounts of her own company of which she is also an athlete.
“I started with the idea of wanting to teach, because it seems like a good job to me and it’s nice to pass on your knowledge, especially now I think that the new generations need it. But also I like the commercial part and the economic world“, continues. “Or even do historical research it’s one of my dreamseven if it’s a big dream!”
