In the latest issue (151) of the online magazine “Trekkenfild,” one of the most interesting journalists covering the Italian race walking scene, Walter Brambilla, published an article with a provocative title.
The article included a brief, somewhat critical dissertation on statements made to another newspaper by the athlete who won the race.
We have taken the liberty of translating the article so that our international readers can gain a firsthand understanding of the topic.
There are essentially two key points:
– Almost all Italian newspapers covering the race walk held in Alessandria on March 8th consistently emphasized the return to racing at the age of 41 of the 2008 Beijing 50km Olympic Champion. Much has been read about his return to racing, and just as much has been speculated about his future plans, but, in the end, very little has been read about race walking.
– Both on-site and in the press, rivers of words were wasted, with wild speculations, on the hypothetical future openings of this return to racing. However, very little was dedicated to the winner, Riccardo Orsoni, who walk a splendid race with a mark of 1:24:30, which still stands as the best European performance of the season over the distance.
My journalist friend Walter Brambilla is right when he tells us that Italy is like this. For the record, let us add that the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the two factions that fought in Central-Northern Italy between the 12th and 14th centuries, some in favour of the Pope and the others of the Holy Roman Emperor, have today become both not guilty (the 2008 Beijing Olympic Champion is seen as a martyr of the “forces of power”) and guilty.
Instead, perhaps the only thing that might have been appropriate to highlight is the following: in race walk the disqualification is part of the rules of the game and all participants know it from the first event they have competed. Moreover, if five of the six judges of the international jury that judged in Alessandria issued their unfavourable verdict, there could well have been something wrong in the race walk of the athlete returning after eight years of inactivity.
Another famous name from the past (now 92 years old) comes to mind, that of a certain Abdon Pamich who, at the age of 39, sadly concluded his career at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. His long, medal-studded athletic career ended with a disqualification.
And so, poor Riccardo Orsoni also had to answer to pressuring interviews by clutching at straws, when perhaps he just wanted to talk about his wonderful race.
Alessandro Manzoni said in “The Betrothed”:
“Common sense was there, but it was hidden for fear of common sense”.
(“Il buon senso c’era, ma se ne stava nascosto per paura del senso comune”)
Points of view. You again, weren’t we supposed to see each other again?
Alex Schwazer, after serving his WADA penalty, is back competing. He can do so wherever and whenever he sees fit, and rightly so! What’s most surprising is the behavior of the other Italian walkers.
A while ago (Schwazer still suspended), Francesco Fortunato said more or less: “I’m waiting for him to return, so we can finally talk about race walking.” After the last race walking event, with Riccardo Orsoni winning, with Alex competing, more or less all the newspapers that covered the topic did nothing but highlight the presence of the South Tyrolean, who was also suspended for irregular walking.
The only media outlet that remained equidistant was the FIDAL website, let’s be honest.
In an interview with the newspaper “Il Giorno” on March 29, Riccardo Orsoni stated after his victory: “Without going into the details of his story, I think he brought visibility to the event. For better or worse, there were more people than usual.”
And of course, dear Riccardo, Italy is like that. All it takes is a serious mistake and you become the subject of the news. In any case, why don’t you ask someone in the race walking community what provoked the man in question? If you want, I can give you the names.
I’d also add that you can also ask the other walkers for their autographs at the first opportunity before the start. That way, we’re all set and we won’t talk about it anymore.
WB
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