The Olympics are over.
The games are open.
An after Pellegrini, imagined and dreamed by the 'Divina' of blue swimming.
Asking her, means opening a window on everything is possible.
"I can't wait for it to arrive, this later", he says after the last 100 meters of his life.
A few days ago he made the endless list of "many things to do" once he took off the cap and left the tub. She is a candidate for the IOC in athletes' altitude and the electoral campaign is moving forward quickly. There is still the ISL of Naples in September, it is there that he will say his final farewell to the profession of athlete. Beyond the book in the pipeline, a docufilm and the recordings of Italia's Got Talent, there is still the strong predisposition not to leave swimming and sport in general: "I see myself in a role in sport, of course, and also in swimming I feel I can still give a lot ", he reiterated after his last 200 years. The president of Fin Paolo Barelli, for example, immediately relaunched on the wave of enthusiasm:" For Federica there is always a place,although we would like him to play the European Championships next year in Rome.
Impossible? Never say never. In any case, whatever role you want to play, we will be happy to talk about it with you. "Before leaving Tokyo, however, you will already know if your career will immediately take the high road of sports politics, starting with the IOC elections (voting at the Olympic village until August 3) where she is among the 30 candidates for the Athletes Commission. And since Federica has always shown that she can surprise, even herself, reinventing herself in multiple roles even outside the pool, why not think about a role in the politics tout court? They ask her if she wants to follow the path of a Valentina Vezzali, "it seems to me 'too much'", she replies sincerely. And in the name of the same sincerity, she launches a joke that is also a dig. "Me in politics? I am too little diplomatic, I would be the first real politics ... I meant that I would be surprised to find myself diplomatic in politics ".
"I can't wait for the after", Pellegrini repeats. "But I'm still wearing the costume, I don't know in what part of the world and in which time zone: let's wait for the proposals and see". For the moment the thought is turned to August 5 to celebrate for his 33 years, the return to Italy which coincides with re-embracing his loved ones, friends, dogs. "I have a wedding on August 29".
And to those who ask her if by chance it is not hers, after having revealed the relationship with Matteo Giunta, she swings her index finger and unleashes the only certainty about tomorrow. "Nooo ...".
