Home » Pellegrini: “Matteo and I are now finally free to let us see together”

Pellegrini: “Matteo and I are now finally free to let us see together”

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the interview

SENT TO TOKYO

Federica Pellegrini’s last Olympic ball coincides with a private confession. While the Tokyo swimming pool pays homage to her with a sort of passage of honor in which every swimmer present on the pool floor goes to greet her, the champion who leaves the Games looks for the person who was closest to her. Matteo Giunta, his coach for nine years and a companion for someone less. The two built a very private relationship that everyone knew and nobody talked about. But now it is she who comes out and this time he lets her do it: «I’m glad that Faith has opened up in this whirlwind of emotions, she has the right to let herself go. I did it a bit too, this final is the first race I watched without a stopwatch in hand, like a spectacle ».

Federica Pellegrini happy not to have to hide anymore?

«We waited for the right moment even if it was a bit of Pulcinella’s secret. It was important to respect the roles for the balance of the team, in the national team and in Verona. Now we can do what we want ».

Did you struggle to keep the private secret?

“I had never lived in a relationship with this confidentiality. At the beginning it was not easy, I was used to putting everything out in the open, but in our opinion an important story lived within a working group destabilizes. We did not want to be judged every minute, with the paparazzi or in front of the critical eye of our world which is a bit too critical ».

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Without him, would he have stopped after the postponement of the Games?

«Matteo is a very calm person, we are opposite poles and we compensate each other. He taught me to live everything more lightly, in certain specific situations with indifference ».

Are you worried about the paparazzi?

“There’s nothing more to say, they’ll take two pictures and then that’s it.”

Are you afraid that your relationship will now change without the common goal of swimming anymore?

“I have the presumption to say no. However, we will still have three months of sport with the International Swimming League, in Naples, and the dynamics will remain as they are. Then we will simply live our life ».

There is already talk of marriage.

«Easy, immediately to make some gossip. There is nothing else to reveal, at most they will take a few photos and stop. Everything that comes will happen naturally. And I have no plans but the return. I have the elections of the athletes to the IOC in which I am a candidate on August 4th and the birthday with a flight home on the 5th. I’ll be back to my dwarfs, the dogs ».

Have you already realized the space you have occupied in sport?

«I changed women’s sport a little. I have recounted certain frailties and certain mechanisms and dispelled some taboos. From panic attacks, to eating disorders, to cycle problems before a race. I hope I have left the freedom to tell us as an inheritance ».

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“I’ve always been afraid to hear about the depression of champions. I too have had my inevitable moments of crisis but never so striking. Above all, it affects those who have won a lot. It also happened to Phelps, so he said, but he has always been there when he was supposed to be ».

Didn’t you feel dizzy after the gold in Beijing?

“No, the anxiety crises started that winter, but I don’t think they are directly linked to the possible weight of success.”

Do you feel a reduction?

“I think he’s very temperamental, I consider myself sensitive, but strong at the same time.”

If she met herself at sixteen what would she say?

“You have a lot of trouble to do.”

Regrets?

“Nobody. I close in peace. I thought the farewell would be painful but instead it came as a liberation. I did not expect. Many other times I felt ready to quit and then I was afraid to do it, as if I was missing something. Today I want a life, some time for myself, I’ve been in this carousel since I was 14 ».

When did you realize you really wanted to retire?

“Here. It was a click: I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, I’ve matured it now. The idea of ​​the European Championships in Rome in 2022 in the world record pool persisted in my head. In these days I have understood that I have nothing else to say, I have taken everything there was from this sport even if I will remain attached to it, in some way ».

Will he continue swimming for pleasure?

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“No. If I have to keep fit I go to the gym. No more tubs ». –

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