Daniele arrives first. White Armani national team shirt, London gold shimmering like 9 years ago, the leather box that contains it, half peeled, which seems to be 90 years old.
Mirko follows closely. Armani blue jersey of the national team, the bronze of Tokyo firmly in the hands, the gaze that flickers towards the friend’s noblest metal.
Wednesday 18 August, early afternoon, via Molinari 41, editorial staff of Veneto messenger. Those who cross the entrance, apparently normal boys, clean faces and sculptural bodies, are the only Olympic medals in the history of the province of Pordenone.
In the hour that is about to follow Molmenti and Zanni will talk about a friendship that comes from afar, adrenaline poured into two continents, Hamletic doubts, intense joys and love for their land. Of an energy passed through an adapter that remained in Asia and of a wine produced by the entrepreneur Daniele and given to his youngest colleague.
Pordenone-Tokyo round trip
«From home I brought the determination and the ability not to give up – says Mirko -, because we know that we Pordenone always get up, on any occasion. From Tokyo, on the other hand, I brought this back »and he points to the bronze he put back around his neck (on request). «I brought home some excellent Japanese whiskey – jokes Daniele, who at the helm of the national team has not yet been able to celebrate medals in kayaking -. Joking aside, we Friulians, even in sport, bring out the values of our land. We are tough, precise, pragmatic. I brought home a new experience, my first Olympics as a technician, which strengthened my emotional armor and made me grow as a person ».
The secret of our land
Why do Olympic champions and medals bloom from a gymnasium located in a basement of the sports hall? Why are champions that make the world talk in the few kilometers between Torre and Cordenons? «Often in big cities the values of sport are lost – Mirko begins -. We have 30 kids in my gym. When we train we create an overall energy and chemistry that make all people benefit from it. In this land you see Molmenti winning a gold medal and you want to do like him. Now maybe even my bronze can help fuel other dreams ». «The effect of a medal in Milan ends quickly – echoes Daniele -. A conquered one here remains for months in the mouth, in the head and in the heart of the people ».
What do you see in the other
«In 2012 I started lifting weights – Mirko remembers -. When I heard that Daniele had won the gold medal at the Olympics, I freaked out, I couldn’t even understand what he meant. Now a little more. I admire him because he is a person who has a great desire to do and is capable of evolving ». And Daniele, who welcomes the compliment: «I too feel a bit part of Mirko’s medal, because without me there would not have been all this energy at the Olympic village …». It refers to the adapter that Zanni did not have. «He left me a vowel (which he kept and makes to listen to), I gave him mine for a day and it didn’t hurt, I would say. Too bad he stayed in Asia for a mistake, let’s say. Anecdotes aside, in Mirko I saw what I was a few years ago: hunger, sincerity, the will to live an Olympics as a protagonist. I wish him to continue in this spirit ».
My medal before and after
This time Daniele starts: «My Olympic story starts from a motorcycle accident, a month before Beijing 2008: I break a vertebra and end up without medals. But thanks to this I begin to work on the core, I improve the balance, the posture and the technical gesture and two years later the gold of London arrives. From there, everything changes, they paint me as a Latin lover, they attribute a story with the Pennetta to me (yes, we tried to find out more, but … no comment), engage all over the place until I say to myself “I have to get back to myself “. I marry my wife and start again from what I was: an athlete who wants to give back to the Italian sports world what he has given me. Hence the experiences as manager and coach of the national team ».
Mirko, on the other hand, didn’t even have to do weightlifting: «Whatever sport I practiced, from ping pong to volleyball, I always finished last. Mom had done athletics, was in the national team, had the 4×100 record … Dad, on the other hand, was powerlifting.
She wanted me to do athletics, he weights. So dad made me do a power-up, but only for volleyball. Except that when he was 12 he took me to a race and I participated as a non-member. Mom took it but from there … we got to Tokyo. The homecoming and the love of the people of Cordenons were unforgettable, even if now when I enter a bar it is no longer the same and I have to get up every three seconds ». «You won this – and Daniele points to Mirko’s bronze – because you are as you are and you did what you did. Stay yourself and be wary of opportunists and those who will try to use you ».
Mirko and Daniele say goodbye. Zanni goes to train, Molmenti to prepare for the next successes, “because three years pass quickly and from Paris I want to return with something we already deserved in Tokyo”. Mirko nods and winks at the medal again. This time to that of his friend.
Hello and thanks for visiting, golden boys.
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