«There has been a lot of talk about the extraordinary year experienced by Italian sport. I am sure that for you, as for all champions, triumphs are never enough. But we need to know how to appreciate victories when they happen. The fans – myself included – remember them all ». Thus the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi speaking at the Speech ceremony for the delivery of the Gold Collars 2021. Draghi mentioned the men’s national football team, once again successful by the Europeans, the women’s and men’s national volleyball teams, also European champions. “As Gino Bartali said, certain medals hang on the soul, not on the jacket”, continued the premier who pitted “the forty medals at the Olympics and the sixty-nine at the Paralympics – never so many. The comebacks in the corners, the hugs at the end of the race, the penalties scored and saved. With the tricolor that accompanied your every exultation and celebration ». “You have entered history”, continued the prime minister, who expressly quoted Valentino Rossi and Federica Pellegrini, “and you have brought the whole country with you. We are grateful to you, and we are grateful to your coaches, to your clubs, to your loved ones ».
“The victories allow us to understand what we are, and what we are able to do,” continued the premier. «To plan for the future with confidence and awareness. Next year, sport has many important events ahead. The World Cup, the Winter Olympics, the World Athletics Championships. The European swimming championships, which we will host in Rome. I invite you to look to the next season with the same determination with which you faced this one. But we must also think about what Italian sport could be in five or ten years. Maintain a long-term perspective. And remain united around a common project ».
Sport, for Draghi, has a more than particular value. “It is such an important element in our lives that it can have constitutional dignity, like the environment”