Casorate’s doctor is on the staff of FIDAL. “The beauty of the Games is the village, you are in the canteen with Djokovic and Gallinari”
pavia
«A dream Olympics». Antonella Ferrario, the doctor of Casorate Primo, was present at the Games as a federal doctor of the national athletics team. And now we discover that some of the merit of Tamberi and Jacobs’ gold comes from her.
The doctor rewinds the tape, starting from the preparation of Gimbo Tamberi: «The gypsum knee-high that everyone saw was the one from Pavia. He had undergone deltoid ligament reconstruction, the same surgery that Barshim would later do. Subsequently, a pathologist appeared, the supernumerary bone behind the ankle, which probably mobilized in the trauma, bothered him and then he was operated on again in Forlì, close to home, we controlled from a distance ».
Doctor Ferrario also knows Jacobs well: “He is from Desenzano and his previous coach came to Pavia when I was training – adds the blue ax of multiple tests – I remember that he had brought to visit this promising boy who was trying his hand at long jump, but he had patellar tendon problems. For this reason, when he was 18, I had stopped him for a year to have the tendon regenerate, suggesting that he only do speed. In that year Marcell participated in the under 23 Europeans reaching the final in the 200, without many specific jobs. It was immediately clear that it had great potential. As a jumper he was at risk, entering the deadlift phase at such a speed that if he made a mistake he would get hurt. His coach Camossi followed him well by vacating a sprinter ».
Ferrario was at his first Olympics. «The bulk of the work is done during the year – he explains – at the Games we doctors gave” technical “support, as well as swabbing everyone every morning. It’s challenging, we started at 6 am with the first group of athletes and returned at 11.30 pm. When we got back we had to work, so I hardly slept at all. In collaboration with the staff of physiotherapists, our work was very concentrated in the recovery phase between one race and another, from qualifying to the finals. Fortunately we have not had any serious accidents ».
There were two offices for Italy in Japan: «The athletes arrived in Kurosawa and stayed for a week – continues Ferrario – a quiet place where we had the athletics track. From there, in turn, they went to the Olympic village. I moved with the first round of athletes and Elena Bellinzona remained in Kurosawa, then joining me in the village on August 3rd ».
Ferrario then reveals the behind the scenes: «We were aware that these guys had the potential to win, but you never get out of balance because it doesn’t take much to change everything. It was a positive wind right from the start. We knew Tamberi wanted to win, he was very focused. I also believe that the calm and serene environment that the athletes had behind them was important to put them in the best conditions. The reason for the success? They were all in great shape and I am convinced that the lockdown did well. The athletes did not have distractions because they could not, beyond the training there were no distractions and the athletes knew they were privileged. The Olympic village? Extraordinary. The beauty of the Games is the village. There was a large canteen and everyone came there. You were in line with Djokovic and Gallinari: a show that I will always carry in my memories ».maurizio scorbati