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Pellegrini: 'My future? I have so much to do, with Matteo '

2021-07-28T14:14:09.011Z


The last Olympic final, the seventh place, the tears, the confession of the relationship with the coach: a life in 1'55 '' 91 (ANSA)


Bye bye, 'Divina'. Greet Federica Pellegini with her hand and tears in her eyes, the queen of Italian swimming, an international icon. From today a real legend, for a farewell competition that if the Tokyo swimming pool had been a full stadium would have been no less than other shows of the kind. "Now I have many things to do", says the most medaled champion of Italian swimming. She will do them with Matteo Giunta, the coach-boyfriend that everyone knew, but she didn't want to say "because swimming comes first", and who she hopes will last a long time after so many years of ups and downs, competitive and sentimental. Perhaps also for this reason "what comes after" is not scary, as Francesco Totti said on behalf of all those without tomorrow: with him from today Federica not only shares the role of testimonial of Milan-Cortina,but also as a champion at the terminus of careers that never wanted to end. Federica Pellegrini's is not a story, but an arc that has spanned the ages and the Olympics, five with the last final in Tokyo. "It was a beautiful journey, arm after arm, and I enjoyed it all." From the silver of Athens to the gold of Beijing, between disappointments and ups and downs, and then the world record in the 200 that still resists the new generations. And it does not matter if in her last Olympic final she did not go beyond seventh place with a time still lowered by another second (1'55''91, from 1'57''33 of the heats of the day before yesterday), at the end of the last 200 of his career, "my 200" as he repeats without being able to hold back the tears, aboard the tub in Tokyo.

At the dawn of 33 years (she will turn them on August 5), Federica Pellegrini had already written history yesterday, winning her fifth Olympic final in the same specialty, the only woman to do it like Phelps among men. Today, he signed it. One of her very few idols, before she becomes one for the new generation. As soon as she got out of the pool, Katie Ledecky, a rival of many laps and 200, greeted her warmly: "She complimented me for the fifth final, now the road is hers", she revealed at the end. Federica Pellegrini leaves anyway as reigning world champion (gold both in Budapest 2017 and in Gwangju 2019) and still in the pool, today, she proudly raised her eyes to the scoreboard, saw the time and placement and applauded herself , then she went out and made the sign of five: "Bye bye ", he seemed to be saying. A palm full with the sign of five, like the Olympic finals won. And it was still a goodbye:" I still see myself in the world of swimming, I have received and given everything to this sport, but I feel that I can still give so much ". Who knows in what guise. It is however a pity that today the Aquatics Center was not full of public, otherwise it would have been a standing ovation. And it is one of the many roles that the Venetian swimmer (before defining her ex will have to wait for the women's Olympic relay and then the ISIs of Naples) is planning. Because she certainly doesn't know how to stand still and who asks her specifies almost angrily: "But I have so many things to do now: go home, everyone is waiting for me, celebrate the my birthday because 33 is an important age,then we have to get the athletes to vote for the IOC, in September, hopefully also November there will be the Isl in Naples, then a docufilm will be released, then a book is planned, then the recordings of Italia's Got Talent ".

So many things to do, never alone though. In fact, it is today the officialization of what in reality everyone knew for years, his relationship with the coach Matteo Giunta, following the break with his ex-boyfriend Filippo Magnini, which the two have always wanted to keep confidential so as not to distract the champion. from swimming: "If Matteo hadn't been there - he confided at the end of the race - I would have probably stopped a few years ago. Matteo was a great coach and a special life partner and I hope he will be in the future too. The priority was to keep the image of the coach and the athlete separated and we were very good at this. He was a fundamental person, one of the most important in this human and sporting path. " Gossip finished, or just started. What from the night theItalia will remember are the last words on the poolside of a champion who has always been able to make every gesture epic: "It was a beautiful journey, many years of strokes: I enjoyed it from start to finish. I smiled. It was the right time for me, they told me that these things are understood as turning the light on and off ". That of his star will never go out. The tile in the walk of fame is already booked.That of his star will never go out. The tile in the walk of fame is already booked.That of his star will never go out. The tile in the walk of fame is already booked.

Source: ansa

All news articles on 2021-07-28

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