Orro celebrated by friends and relatives after the triumph in blue
SENT TO NARBOLIA. A hug and more than a cry with mum, dad and sister upon arrival at the airport. The return home with a small ceremony in the Town Hall square. The rest of the morning with fellow villagers who in dribs and drabs look out into the garden to congratulate. In the afternoon a dip in the sea and at the end a little party between a toast and a bite. Europe is here, in Narbolia, in that province of Oristano which has become a magnet for precious medals.
The Olympics binge has just passed and yet the binge continues. This time the smile is that of Alessia Orro, fresh from victory with the Italian national team in the maximum continental tournament, less fresh for the many hours that have passed since the last time she rested her head on a pillow. “Slept? Zero. There was no time and to tell the truth there was very little time to celebrate all together. The match ended very late and, between the awards and the ceremony, we had just the time to enjoy the moment between us in the locker room ». Then dinner, hotel, suitcases, plane and off to home to embrace parents, friends and the whole town that in the morning gave her the first applause and the first toast.
It all happened so quickly that the mayor Gian Giuseppe Vargiu was on his way to take his turn for the fire service and in an instant he changed his program and that of the whole country. Almost no one knew that, after the final against Serbia, the blue would be loaded, at 3.30 in the morning in a hurry, on the first plane that would take them back to Italy. Then Sardinia and here is mother Caterina, father Giuseppe and sister Sara: «What happened? I don’t know, we couldn’t talk. We looked at each other, then embraced between various tears. There was no need for words. ‘
To say something they had also tried the night before, but it didn’t go very well. «I made a video call at home after the victory, but it was a delusion. The internet line inside the Belgrade building did not work very well and at home it seemed to see a group of madmen screaming and confusing. Madness, but it was beautiful – she smiles – and when I returned to the hotel I called my parents more calmly. Not too much, because we were all still full of adrenaline and so happy that I don’t really know what we said to each other ».
The joyful fog of the post-game, however, clears when there is a summary of the European Championship: «We arrived there with the right spirit, because we had a great desire for redemption after the disappointment in Tokyo. We all had a clear idea of where we wanted to go and in the end we succeeded. That the team was strong was undeniable even after the fall at the Olympics, but winning the title was certainly not taken for granted given the level of the opponents. From the point of view of the tactical set-up, compared to Tokyo, more continuity was given to the sextets, with fewer changes. The coaching staff felt that that could be one of the aspects to be corrected, meanwhile we have gained confidence day after day, even if we may not have shone against the opponents on the easiest paper. On the other hand, we got on well against the most popular teams and in the end Serbia also went to the mat ».
It would seem an extraordinary year, but Alessia Orro has even more than a hint of disappointment for the outcome of the Olympics: “I won the Cev Cup with my club team, I won the European Championship but there is that hole in the middle Olympic that I do not go down. It will be a stimulus to do better ». And in the meantime, on Friday he returns to work with his Monza, ready to look ahead, but he always keeps in mind the road taken so far: «I had come out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in pieces. I was 17 and it was the first time that I had to face difficulties. Until that moment it had been all roses and flowers, from there I realized that we had to deal with the dark times. My strength was all in the character I got from my parents. We are Sardinian and we have a hard head. From them I learned that when you fall you get up, especially if you have people like them who are close to you ». And mom and dad, distracted between a bite and a toast, know it well. A few words and a lot of joy: “It was wonderful, what more can we say except that we are very happy?”. Then you go back to your old friends, because gold makes you happy but doesn’t change you.
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