SASSARI. Three and a half hours of pure suffering. How tiring is the 50 km? “It’s a struggle with yourself, a kind of spiritual exercise, difficult to prepare and impossible to predict: you never know who ends it and who gives up.” Davide Agrusti, born in Sassari, 26 years old, will discover it only in Tokyo on August 6 (in Italy at 10.30 pm on August 5) when he will compete in the Olympics in the heel and toe marathon. In these days he is in Roccaraso, in Abruzzo, in retreat with the national team.
They will be the most tormented and least welcoming Olympics ever.
«The important thing is to be there, it’s my dream as a child, and then the march is not like I ever had all this audience. I’m only sorry that my grandmother cannot participate in my happiness, she always took me to run to the historic center of Sassari, among the alleys. It is thanks to him that I became a walker ».
Present since Los Angeles ’32, this year is the last time of the 50 km at the Olympic Games: few athletes, excessive duration, little followed.
“Too bad, it’s the distance in which I feel most comfortable. From Paris 2024 it will be replaced by 10 and 30 km for men and women, but it will not be the same thing. Unfortunately, the 50 km does not meet the business criteria, it is too long for TV. I would like to launch an appeal “Support the march” but I think it is too late now ».
Italy in the march has always been a mine: Dordoni oro in ’52, Schwazer in Beijing in 2008.
«Italy has a great tradition in marching, as a national we have a great responsibility. As for Schwazer it is a great pain for me to talk about it, I grew up in his myth and then .. I believe that those who resort to doping must be canceled forever from the world of sport ».
When was the passion for walking born?
«Before running I tried basketball and football. Then the enlightenment when I saw the 2004 Athens Olympics on TV. I left the youth Dynamo and dedicated myself to running. I started at 10 with 50 meters. Then at 12 I decided to just do the march. I thank Salvatore Dettori, he was the first to believe in me ».
How can you resist for 50 km?
«The first 35 kilometers are useless because you go at a constant pace to save as much as possible and push to the end. The race is decided in the last 10 km, it is there that you see who has managed the race badly. I learned this the hard way. At the European Cups in Lithuania, in 2019, at the 47th kilometer I collapsed and did not qualify for the World Cup. Since then I have incorporated meditation into my routine, it helps me to think of nothing and to focus only on the breath. In Tokyo it will be tough because of the heat. We run in Sapporo, 900 km from Tokyo, but it will be more than 30 degrees and with humidity it will be more than 40. It will be a tough race also because the strongest walkers are the Japanese. “.
He goes to Tokyo strong of the bronze conquered at the European Championships with a personal best lowered by 5 minutes.
“I wanted the Olympics so much that I gave my all. It would be a dream to get on the podium ».
Will her parents watch her from home?
«Of course, they are my most avid fans, along with my brother. Mom started running just when I started walking. Now train disabled kids ».
He is 1.80 tall by 70 pounds of weight. Hard diet?
“I follow a balanced diet, I eat a lot of pasta, at least half a kilo a day, and then when I get the suckling pig home, I can’t wait.”
Holidays in Sardinia?
“At the end of August, in Stintino, this is how I take off the sign of my undershirt”,
With her dangling dance how many miles has she traveled in her life?
“Thousands, for sure I’ve already been around the world.”