SASSARI. The Renaissance of Italian weightlifting passes – above all – from Sardinia. 37 years after the last medal (Los Angeles 1984), at the Tokyo Olympics the Italian national team won three (one silver and two bronzes) in addition to the excellent placing of the very young Davide Ruiu from Sassari, first of the Europeans in his category. The merit of having brought the discipline of weightlifting back to the scene belongs to the technical director of the Italian weightlifting federation, the 54-year-old former weightlifter from Nuoro.
Congratulations, he broke a spell, an Italian weightlifter hadn’t been on the Olympic podium for decades.
«The boys were very good. Unlike the general surprise, I knew very well that in Tokyo we could do well, we worked for it for five long years, worked hard. We have built a very strong youth sector. I myself have found several talents in provincial schools, including Davide Ruiu and Sergio Massidda, multiple world champion, and this is the result ».
Has the discipline regained credibility after Tokyo?
«Weightlifting was a sport that seemed condemned to extinction between doping and kickbacks, now you can breathe cleaner air and the medals of our boys, who had been missing for 37 years, stolen by doping giants, are proof of this. I am very happy because these medals are the result of so much effort. It takes work and patience to build technically perfect athletes ».
How many muscles does it take to lift weights?
«More than strength, technique counts, it’s what makes you lift the weights. And to acquire the right technique you must have excellent joint mobility, an elastic musculature, similar to that of a gymnast or a dancer. It is no coincidence that Massidda, before becoming a weightlifter, and what a weightlifter !, devoted himself to dancing, and apparently he was also good at vaulting. I forgot, to lift weights you also need the heart, it is the passion that makes you endure so much effort ».
Yet in the collective imagination still resists the figure of the weightlifter who must be big and male.
“Muscles count above all in the higher categories because it is quicker to get the result but this was the school of 40 years ago, now the weightlifters all have strong physiques, yes, but harmonious, beautiful to look at”.
And the women? Is weightlifting a sport suitable for the female body?
«By now in weightlifting schools girls are much more numerous than boys, 60 against 40% I would say. And on the platform they are very poisoned, as Giorgia Bordignon showed in Tokyo, silver medalist in the 64 kg category. The goal is to maintain their beauty, we make sure they remain strong and slim ».
How old can you start lifting weights?
«At 8-9 years, you start with small weights, there is no danger that growth will be compromised, indeed, it is an excellent athletic preparation. The Federation will soon launch a project for 12 schools throughout Sardinia to open up to the very young ».
Sardinia is a hotbed of talents, she too came out of the noble Nuorese school, that of Nardino Masu, of Sebastiano Mannironi.
«Nuoro was the cradle of Italian weightlifting. It all started with Frediano Papi, my uncle, my father’s cousin, was the coach of Nardino Masu, Sebastiano Mannironi, bronze medalist at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and many other Sardinian weightlifters. San Pietro was the weightlifters district, after the war there were not many alternatives, the simplest way to train was to lift weights after a full day of work ».
Davide Ruiu and Sergio Massidda follow in Mannironi’s footsteps.
«They are two very strong athletes and still very young. Massidda I discovered it in a race in Uri, I never heard him say “I’m tired”. And Davide was the real surprise of Tokyo, now I hope to see them both on the platform at the Paris Games ».
Have you already set your sights on any young talent?
«I think I have him at home, he is my son, he is only 8 years old but already promising very well. Who knows, maybe the next Olympic champion will bear my name ».