TREVISO. Commitment to social issues, Bebe Vio and Irma Testa. But also some passages – vague – on the new life after last winter’s separation from Alessandro Benetton. The launch of “Camminare per la Vita” 2021, of which Deborah Compagnoni is the organizer and testimonial, becomes the occasion for a broad chat with the strongest Italian skier of all time.
Compagnoni, the charity walk is in its fifth edition: balance and sensations?
«An event of which I am proud, because it only does charity. In the past, we invited testimonials, but there was a risk that the attention would fall only on them. Instead the real guests are the participants, the protagonists are them. It is not important to deploy characters at the start, I myself do not consider myself as such. The important thing is to meet every year, me and the members, to support a useful cause ».
How are you going through this particular moment in your life?
«I feel good, I have more time for myself, to do the things I like. And then devote myself to social issues, to the projects of Skiing for Life and Walking for Life. I like to experience them firsthand. I like the idea of committing one’s life to do good. My group, with Paolo Ruggiu and the others, does this and is happy to put their soul into it ».
They recently named a stretch of the promenade in Jesolo after her. In “his” Santa Caterina, from the 2005 World Cup, he can boast a ski slope with his name. Was the sea a recent “discovery”?
«I spent more than 30 years in Santa Caterina. Here I then came to know the plain, appreciating the proximity of the sea. But I have Venetian roots because of my grandfather, Guido Zanon. As a child I spent June in her house in Venice: with the motorboat and I enjoyed the beaches of the Lido ».
He holds the role of “ambassador” for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games: projects?
«I will be able to represent the two regions to which I am most connected, Lombardy and Veneto. A mission that will touch the environment and eco-sustainability, with bonds that are also emotional: the ski competitions, as well as in Cortina, will take place in Bormio, 10 km from my home ».
An assist to remember the blue feats at the Tokyo Olympics: the symbolic medal?
«It would be easy to say Jacobs or Tamberi, but for me the medals are all worth the same, each podium is the crowning achievement of a journey: it contains joy, sacrifices, suffering. Because behind every athlete there is a story. And I was struck by Irma Testa, bronze in women’s boxing. The difficult environment in which she grew up, the relationship with Maestro Zurlo ».
Let’s move on to the great stories of the Paralympics: were you excited for Bebe?
«Of course, today it represents the Paralympic movement at its best. For how he changed his life through sport, for how he introduced the sport of the disabled to everyone. But I would not forget Francesca Porcellato: she also did Nordic skiing, I had her at an edition of Skiing for Life ».
Its pandemic time?
«I stayed a long time in the mountains, different spaces and more freedom. I didn’t feel the discomfort of the lockdown, but I was always thinking about who had to live with tighter environments in big cities. Situations affecting young people, even with cases of depression ».
In a few months, the Beijing Winter Games 22.
«We will be ready to cheer Sofia Goggia and the whole blue team».
Who is Deborah Compagnoni at 51?
«A very normal person who leads a normal life and quite reserved by choice. I like it as it is”.
.