From the legs of Jonathan Milan to the hands of Guglielmo Vicario. The sportsman of the year award established in December 2021 by Messaggero Veneto passes from Buja to Udine.
Like twelve months ago, we launched a survey in our editorial offices in Udine and Pordenone, also involving the most assiduous collaborators of sport, asking who the Friulian sportsman and the Friulian team were in 2022, then broadening the objective to the national scene.
Well, in three out of four circumstances there was no story. Guglielmo Vicario, Empoli’s goalkeeper, won with 30 preferences out of 42, Filippo Ganna, the new record man of the hour, clearly outdistanced the blue swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (22 quotations against 6) and Italy men’s volleyball Milan champion of Italy crashed (25 votes against 9).
The only “race” with an uncertain outcome was the one in which Gesteco Cividale prevailed 15-9 on the revelation of Cda Talmassons, the women’s volleyball team in Serie A2 which reached the play-off semi-final to climb to Serie A and that even in this new season it got off to a good start, occupying third place on a par with the other Friulian team, Itas Martignacco.
NUMBER 1
But let’s go back to Guglielmo Vicar who was voted for by everyone: the Udine and Pordenone editorial staff and external collaborators. His colleague Pietro Oleotto wanted to reward him «for the continuity of performance which allowed him to conquer the national team within a year and a half».
Mattia Pertoldi adds: «Empoli has won many games thanks to saves from Vicario. His interventions have often been decisive and even complicated ». Giada Rossi, fresh Paralympic world champion of table tennis in Granada, was voted by Daniela Larocca, who voted a woman sportswoman or a women’s team in all four questions: «This is because – she explains – often in Italy, pink sport is still neglected. Yet we have great champions. I voted for Paola Egonu because she has won everything with the club and she has also done great things with the national team, yet there are those who have criticized her ».
HEAD TO HEAD
During the counting of the ballots, there was the feeling that Gesteco Cividale and Cda Talmassons were fighting for the record in the photo finish. Instead, in the end there was a margin of six votes between the two teams.
«I chose Gesteco because it’s never easy to win in sport, even less for a club born just two and a half years ago and which among other things is reconfirming its good levels even in A2», explains Stefano Martorano.
«I chose Cda Talmassons because it is a small reality that continues to improve over time», says Maurizio Cescon. The Apu Old Wild West won the Italian Cup, winner in 2021 as best team, which collects four preferences, one less than Udinese, but the success was evidently watered down by the lack of promotion to Serie A ».
WORLD CHAMPIONS
Italy in men’s volleyball that brought home the world title dominates the scene as regards the teams at national level: «These guys made us excited at the end of the summer – says Anna Buttazzoni – it was inevitable to choose them».
It is no coincidence that coach Fefè De Giorgi has also collected a few votes as Italian sportsman of the year for what he has managed to build in a couple of years of work.
Those who voted Milan champion of Italy perhaps got carried away a bit by their support, even if the feat of Ibrahimovic and his companions was nonetheless remarkable: «The Devil wasn’t the strongest team, this is one of the reasons why it seemed right to reward him», the thought of Antonio Bacci which is shared by Marco Ceci: «Pioli made a masterpiece, Theo Hernandez and Leao were the driving forces behind the Rossoneri team».
THE MAN OF RECORDS
Filippo Ganna, who in the space of six days became world champion in the pursuit and hit the hour record (56.792, the new limit), won with a margin that was perhaps too large over Gregorio Paltrinieri, the man who rewrote the history of blue swimming.
“What Ganna did will go down in history,” says cycling expert Antonio Simeoli. «Paltrinieri – underlines Alberto Lauber – won the World Championships in Budapest in the summer and now repeated himself in the short course in Melbourne, his continuity must be rewarded».
Worth noting are the two votes taken by Paolo Banchero, the Italian-American talent who at the age of twenty carved out a leading role in the NBA as a rookie. Michele Fontana and Luana De Francisco voted for it. Pordenone colleagues Martina Milia and Valentina Voi love tennis: one chose Lorenzo Musetti, the other Jannik Sinner.