Paris Olympics: rowing and swimming (30-07-2024)

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And the day finally came, for the first time in my life I saw an Italian win a medal at the Olympics. 12 years ago, in London, I had seen the medal being prepared and the certainty of winning at least silver, but I had not seen the final. Thank you, Greg Paltrinieri, even though for a moment we hoped it would be even better, it is another medal that enriches a fantastic career.

 

But let's start from the beginning. The day had started early (way too early) with the rowing session. I arrive at the shuttle station around 9.15, by which time it was clear that I would see it begun (start was at 9.30). There are, however, a few people arriving at this time. Among them are the relatives of Nicolas Kohl, of the Italian four, whom I meet on the shuttle: in all my stay in Paris so far, I had never seen so many Italians together. When the shuttle arrives, there's still a long way to go (I'll measure it on the way back: it's about 1250 metres): when I had been to see whitewater canoeing, I had seen that the flat water basin was further away, but I didn't think it was that far.

 

I go in at almost 10 o'clock and it is already very hot, I look at where my seat is and discover... that I don't have a seat: they are standing places! I go back to wondering why I was doing that, after I had already done it when I got up. The fourth quarter-final of the women's sculls is under way: I settle in the first place I find, towards the 1500 m buoy, waiting for them to pass. Finished, I make to move away, but I see that the first quarter-final of the men's sculls is already about to start. The races are practically ontinuous: the starts are every 10 minutes, which means that between the arrival of one and the start of the next there are about 3 minutes, but they are not noticeable: having proclaimed the official result of one race, they begin the presentation of the next.

I go a few metres further towards the start, and from there I see the first two quarters of the sculls, I notice that the period when the boats are in sight is about 2 minutes. Then I really have to go for a drink and to the toilet. On the way back, I look for better accommodation: I find a less crowded place, where I can also sit when the boats are far away. However, it has the disadvantage of being far from the screens, so most of the time you have to rely on the speaker to find out the placings. From this position the boats are visible from just before the halfway point until almost the finish, but the stretch where the perspective allows you to understand the placings is much shorter, no more than 250-300 metres. Around me only French, further on a Dutch family: after the locals, the nationalities most present are Dutch and Danish.

We arrive at the first competition for both us and the French: the first semi-final of the women's doubles. The French are thrilled with their crew, which is always in a qualifying position (top three) and at times seems to be able to attack for first place. They celebrate qualification with ‘who doesn't jump is not French’ (it will be heard again tonight at swimming). Italy remains last all the time and even loses contact with the penultimate in the final. After the semifinals of the men's doubles, with France failing to qualify and Italy absent, the French around me leave and so I can advance almost to the first row. I see the recoveries of the four, first women's (without Italy) and then men's, where we take revenge on France: Italy is in the lead the whole time, after it has passed me it seems that Romania and France are catching up with it, but it's perspective, in reality we are firmly in the lead and we win over Romania and France, which therefore remains out (two were passing).

Once the races are over, it's back to the start of the shuttle,s in a devastating heat. The queue for the shuttles is long, but it is over in a quarter of an hour: I confirm that it is the most efficient shuttle service I have ever seen.

In the early afternoon I visit the Parc des Nations, the village that hosts the ‘houses’ of different countries. I visited those of Colombia and Mexico, among the few with free entry, i.e., requiring neither payment nor registration. A good experience, a pity I didn't have more time.

And we come to the evening session, with swimming. I arrive at La Defense with a good margin, almost an hour, but 10 minutes pass to get from the metro station to the arena and just as many in the queue at the gates. I am however inside the arena just before 8pm, so I decide to get some food. It doesn't turn out to be a good idea: we don't understand each other and instead of the curry toast I had ordered I get two beers. When I manage to get the toast, I discover that I don't like it and throw it away.

Eventually the margin is almost over, I arrive at my front door with 10 minutes to go. I open the door and find myself in front of the pool, very close, only a few steps down. I can't actually see much because they are playing a light game, but when the lights come on I can see better how close it is, and I remain so even as I climb up to my seat. The seats next to me are already occupied, but in the row there are a few vacant ones left, then they will fill up, but in other blocks there will be a few empties, although I think the block with the most empties was the athletes' sector. Next to me, on one side are French, on the other some Asians, who when they announce their athlete (in the 200 butterfly) I discover are from Taiwan. In my row there are also Chinese from the People's Republic and even Colombians (Colombia was not represented). In the front row, Americans and British, around, Australians and, it will be seen in the 800 sl, also many Irish. In the front rows there were also many Italians.

Already when they announce the participants in the first race, you can see that, after the French, the most numerous are Americans and British, but there are also numerous Australians and, as I said, Irish, When they announce Noè Ponti you can see that there is also a good representation of Swiss. The Chinese are also more than yesterday in archery (I went to see the team archery yesterday, but due to technical problems with my PC I couldn't write about it). Among the countries with a swimming tradition, Hungary, Canada and Sweden are underrepresented. The former I think is even the only country represented, apart from Kyrgyzstan, whose flag I did not see: I also saw one from the Philippines and a small group from Iceland. But the strongest cheer is always for home athletes: the French are especially excited about Marchand, the 400 metres mixed champion, who competes first in the 200 butterfly, winning the semi-final and reaching the final with the second fastest time, and then also in the 200 breaststroke (and the first time I have ever seen one compete in the breaststroke and another style), where he will set the best time. In the breaststroke they will also mark the rhythm of his every stroke. Sometimes the enthusiasm (not only of the French) is such that it is hard to get silence for the start.

I soon realise that my position, behind the pool on the start side, is excellent for watching the swimmers' arrival, their preparation and the start (I will later discover that it allows me to see them very closely, after the race, because they have to pass by the table right in front of my block to get the pass for the mixed zone), but it does not allow me much to understand how the race is going, especially in the sprint races, where the gaps are smaller, except a little at the touch. In fact, in the first race, the semi-finals of the 100 fs, I didn't understand much about how Miressi was going, who was out of the final by 1/100. In the second, the 200 butterfly, it goes better: in the second semi-final I see Malek take off. We get to the first final, the women's 100 backstroke, where looking through binoculars I notice that the Australian McKeown is the first to touch.

And we come to Paltrinieri's race. After the first 100, where they're all close together and you can't understand anything, I realise that he's behind the two in the lanes next to him, the Irish Wiffen and the American Finke, but at the 400 I see that he's come closer, and in fact he's moved up from sixth to fourth place. At the 450 he is still behind Finke and Wiffen, but ahead of everyone else, at the 500 he is second, at the 600 he is in the lead and at the 700 he has a good margin. In the penultimate length, however, first Wiffen and then Finke start to catch up. In the last pool my sector is almost all standing and you can hear the Irish cheering a lot. In the end they are the ones celebrating and Paltrinieri is third: great race anyway.

The victory ceremony for the 100 backstroke follows: the podium is on the side opposite mine, while on my side flags are raised on flagpoles being lowered from the ceiling. The Australian anthem plays, which to an Italian ear reminds one of an old mountain song in the attack, and no one can be heard singing it, even though there are many Australians present (the lyrics exist, I checked). Instead, when the Irish anthem plays, I hear it sung rather loudly behind me. The break coincided with the epee final, so I was able to read about Italy's gold and thus the Fiamingo-Paltrinieri couple's double medal.

After the seimifinals of the women's 100 sl and men's 200 breaststroke, we close with the final of the 4X200, which i wth 9 teams because of a tie in the heats. There was great involvement of the public, almost all of whom were on their feet, since, after an attempt by Germany at the start, it soon resolves itself into a three-way battle between the countries most represented in the attendance after France: Great Britain, the USA and Australia. In the end it's the British who celebrate.

Once the relay is over, there would still be a victory ceremony, but many are heading for the exit. I decide to do it too, as I have to have dinner, go back to the hotel and write, but no one in my row does, so I have to make way.

 Another fantastic experience in a beautiful venue and with one of the most international attendances of the Olympics, Tomorrow table tennis and volleyball, in the venue next to the hotel.

 

 

Swimming Seven Hills Trophy (25-06-2021)

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After a year behind closed doors, we return to Seven Hills Trophy. This time parking is not a problem: I leave the car before the ministry, but going forward I discover that I could have left it even closer. I am slightly late: the program starts at 6.30 pm and I arrive at the entrance around 6.40 pm. Once I arrive, however, I discover that I do not have everything I need to enter: they tell me that I have to check-in. Indeed, the ticket said "check-in is required", but they didn't explain what it was, I thought it was filling out the usual Covid form, instead it's about registering on a website, more or less like for the Golden Gala. The biggest obstacle is the date of birth: you can't write it down, you have to select it from a calendar, which starts from the current month and shows one month at a time. So I have to go back 53 years one month at a time, for a total of 641 months! The entrance steward tells me that usually only  iPhones give problems (and that's not my case) and tells me to go to the next checkpoint and ask for help. In the meantime, the calendar resets and I have to start all over again: I am tempted to stay between the two checkpoint, I can see the pool, but I think I would be noticec and sooner or later they would send me out. I also want to throw away the phone (apart from the swearing that could be heard throughout the pool), I am also tempted to make me about twenty years younger, thinking "who will notice?", But in the end I get to the right date right and enter around 18.50.

My seat is beyond the end of the pool, perfectly aligned with the podium. In addition to the victory ceremony, so I can clearly see the turns at odd lengths and the start of 50 meter races, while in a tight finish I can't see who touches first, not even with binoculars. The seats to be occupied would be 1 in 4, in all the rows, but if there are only two other people in my row, the rows in front and behind are full of people sitting close together (and clearly they are not all living together).

The first race I see are the men's 400 freestyle: first the end of the second series, (the series are numbered backwards: we end up with the first, the best), in which Detti stays with the first for 300 meters, then collapses. One makes it to the podium with 3'49 ", so I think that in this phase of the Olympic preparation we will not see great performances. The next race, the men's 100 breaststroke, immediately proves me wrong: Martinenghi sets the Italian record with 58.29!

Then there are the women's 200 freestyle, the only race in which three series are held in this session instead of two (in the last one, the 1500, there will be only one). Two Italians unknown to me (naturally because of my ignorance, the group in front of me seems to know them well) win the third and second with excellent times, the second even under 1'59 ". In the first, Pellegrini doesn't even need to do her usual crescendo: she is clearly in the lead already from the first length. Then she will close with a normal time for her, while her opponents were not very qualified: the second, a Brazilian, in the general classification will be only tied for third . In most races there will be at least one from minor series on the podium.

The victory ceremonies begin: there is Rosolino who does the interviews, and makes me think of the 2009 World Championships, which marked the end of his high-level career. With Vezzali (present as undersecretary) he talks about Atlanta 1996, to Pellegrini he asks how she can always be happy. She replies that she is happy for her performance and because the attendance is back. Then she throws her jacket on the stands: many are fighting to grab it, at some point I also fear that someone will get hurt.

Another Italian record in the women's 100 breaststroke, with Castiglioni ahead of Pilato (also below the old limit) and Carraro. Pilato will then appear on the podium dancing, also reminding us that she is a young girl, younger than my son. The pace is very fast: I suddenly realize that it is already pat 8pm and we are almost at the end. They close with the women's 1500: Quadarella has already a 5 second lead after 400 meters, at 800 they will be 10, at the end 22. which still has more than a second, and so it will remain until the end. All the others are at least 50 meters behind.

After 1500, I go out, like almost everyone, even if there are still some victory ceremony (and you can hear the speaker calling Quadarella and Caramiglioli several times, they have just enough time to dry). At the exit I see some swimmers, who are unable to recognize each other. I saw a very high level meeting almost only thanks to the Italians: there was only one competition (the female 50 butterfly) with more than one big foreigner. For an athletics fan, it causes a great envy. 

World Swimming Championships in Rome (2009) - part 2

Clicca qui per la versione italiana Click here for part 1 The start of pool swimming arrived. The first day I spent the whole day at the Swimming Stadium: between the morning and afternoon sessions there were diving competitions. I was with my family, we arrived a little late, after the heats of the first race. Most of the stands were full. It was awfully hot, someone in the stands said "if they let me enter the water on the condition of diving from 10 meters, I would accept". I wouldn't have done it, maximum 5. In a break, at the bar we found Di Biasi behind us: he's shorter than I imagined.

The heats were disappointing for Italy: Rosolino in the 400 freestyle came 13th -14th, the breaststroke swimmers remained out of the semifinals and also the men's 4X100fs did not enter the final. Next to me was an Imola swimming group, protesting that their member Fabio Scozzoli had not been selected: he had been the first Italian to swim below one minute in the 100 breaststroke shortly before, be he had done it too late.

In the afternoon Biedermann won the 400 freestyle in 3:40.07, beating Thorpe's record by one hundreth: his record still stands. It was the era of rubber swimsuits, "rubber dinghies with horses power", as Rosolino would say years later. It was necessary to specify which swimsuit an athlete wore, such as for skis or tires for motor sports. There were grotesque effects: a celebration was planned, with music, for world records, but it had become a routine thing, it could also be heard for 3-4 races in a row. In some races the record was beaten in both semi-finals and then also in the final. We are not talking about the championship records, which were already beaten in the heats. Another consequence of this situation was that it was no longer clear how much a time was worth: performances that were exceptional a couple of years ago became mediocre. The most striking case for us was in the women's 4X200fs heats, where the performance in the first three legs, later saved by Pellegrini, was considered very disappointing: 5 years earlier it would have been a time near the world record.

During the week I went to see the afternoon sessions after work. It was always hot and on the way back the traffic was terrible. I saw the four Italian medals, all women's: it began with Filippi's gold in 1500. Too bad that later she had problems and retired early, I really liked her so much, even physically. Then there was the splendid double win by Pellegrini: 200 with the record still in force and 400 in which she was the first below 4 '. Filippi also won the bronze medal in the 800, while the two together arrived not far from the podium in the women's 4X200: for the bronze a performance by Pellegrini comparable to that of the individual race would have been needed, but she could not always make miracles.

For the rest they were disappointing World Championships: many who were expected at least to qualify for the final stopped in the semifinals. It was especially sad the decline of Rosolino, out of the semi-finals in the 200 and not as expected in the relay. And we thought that the Roloino of would almost certainly have won thegold in the 400: it was estimated that its 3:43.40 was worth a time under 3'40" with the rubber swimsuit. I thought he would have retired instead he went on for another 3 years.

I didn't see the last two days: I missed Colbertaldo's 4th place in the 1500 and Marin's race (eliminated in the 400 mixed heats), which had a record of two WCH medals, but was cited only as Pellegrini's boyfriend.

World Swimming Championships in Rome (2009) - part 1

Clicca qui per l'edizione italiana Click here for part 2 The World Swimming Championships are in progress, and 10 years have passed since the Rome edition, the only one I have watched live. The World Championships had already been in Rome in 1994, but at the time I wasn't living there yet, and I wasn't a big enough swimming fan to move. At that time I made another, shorter, sport trip. The 2009 World Championships should also have taken place in Tor Vergata, very close to where I worked at that time, then it was all cancelled and went back to the old Foro Italico venue: in Tor Vergata you can still see the unfinished buildings.

The feeling that I had just after I entered the Swimming Stadium on the first day, or even when I was still approaching, was the one that inspired the title of this blog: that the common spectator, the one who pays for the tickets (and I had spent more than 800 euros), was seen with annoyance. The first few days the works in the entrance area had not yet been completed, and to enter one had to pass through a cordoned area on the street. A wide space was given instead to the VIP areas.

Then there were those who unduly occupied space, and they were the real negative protagonists of the event: the volunteers. In huge numbers, you always found them camping at bars and kiosks, occupying all the tables, or perhaps in the stands (the first week, when there were more free places), where they even complained if you obstructed their view with your flag: almost never working. I also met a stewardess who believed she was at the football Champions' League final: the stands were not more than 5% full, but still she showed my place and told me "if you find it occupied, tell me and we'll free it"

Back to the sport event, the first week, as always, was dedicated to water polo, diving, synchronized swimming and open water swimming. I saw a couple of water polo games, one men's and one women's. I don't remember the teams, I just remember that in one there was Holland. For me they were a novelty: I found them pleasant, so much so that I made the purpose myself to go and see some matches in the next season, which I didn't do. I was particularly struck by the size of the players, which you didn't notice on TV.

I did not see synchronized swimming, but I met some sync swimmers: I remember having a group of Canadian ones next to me. I found also them more robust than they seem on TV. I had planned to watch open water swimming one morning (I think the 25 km race), but I gave up because I didn't feel well.

I saw several diving events, and I certainly didn't regret it. The most exciting was the men's platform, with the challenge between Daley of Britain, the two Chinese and an Australian, won by the first after several lead changes. I could also watch Cagnotto's two medals: silver in the synchro springboard with Dallapé and bronze in the individual springboard. The synchro race was preceded by a qualification made to eliminate just one pair, with Macao acting as a designated victim, presenting a program much easier than the others.

 The Chinese were true Martians in synchro, more human in the individual, although there was Gao's one-woman race in springboard: truly impressive. I was also thinking of the sad life of Chinese judges (in Rome there was a lady) who would never judge a final, since a final without Chinese was unthinkable (at the time the springboard finals were 6-people, so one could imagine a final without Americans, Australians or other big countries, but not without Chinese). The downside of diving was the attendance, too biassed, not only pro-Italy, but also anti-China: they never accepted a jury vote.

Towards the end of the first week, I saw a crowd surrounding a man with a sweatshirt, hood and headphones, under which there was not much to see: it was Phelps! A sign that pool swimming was about to begin, but we'll talk about it next time.

Swimming Seven Hills Trophy (23-06-2019)

Clicca qui per la versione italiana I arrive around 6.30 pm: this time it seems to be no problem for parking, but I have no trust and still leave the car at the first available place, behind the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at 900 meters from the entrance of the venue: for at least the first 500 you don't see anyone, so I can be sure that this time there are no concerts at the Olympic Stadium. After seeing the stands in the other two days, I was also afraid to find a queue at the ticket office, instead I immediately enter. I choose the Tribuna Tevere, because it is the closest.

I enter a little after 6.45 pm, which according to the program on the site should be the start time. It is hard to find a place, also because many are also occupied for absent people. I find one perfectly in line with the finish: I have never been in such a good position, I can understand the placings very well. Of course, on the other hand I can't see very well when they arrive at the other side of the pool and, given that time can only be seen on the board, which is on the opposite side, either you look at the finish line or look at time.

When I arrive, a final B is in progress, so I think it is still the preliminary program: the first final A will be around 7 pm. For the 200 backstroke I will notice for the first time that the handle for the backstroke start is added to the blocks, it is no longer part of them (yet I had swum in the London Olympic pool ...). Except for a bit in the 50 meter races, swimmers always give the impression of not forcing, but then I imagine myself next to them. In the B finals there are some big Italians, like Bianchi and Rivolta.

At about 7 pm, the finals A begin: there is a strange Italy-Hungary match in women's200 butterfly, with 4 Hungarians arriving before 4 Italians. We take our revenge in 200 backstroke, with the first Italian star, Panziera, who beats Hoszu. In backstroke you can hear the sound of strokes, much more than in the other styles. There is a group that always scream after the starting signal. The public seems on average more competent than in athletics: I hear also many accents, there are many people coming from outside.

After 4 finals A, the B finals resume, and from then on one A final and one B will alternate. In the 200 mixed men the two races will be almost at the same level: Ceccon wins the final B going below 2 minutes, with the Italian junior record , a time with which he would have come second in the A. Many Italians unknown to me  (for my ignorance, of course) do well, like Ciampi, who ties for first in the 200 freestyle, and Fangio, second in women's 200 breaststroke.

At a certain point I notice that from my position we can also see part of the call room, with the swimmers who finish to dress up. Some say they saw Pellegrini. Fede competes just before 8pm: I don't think I've ever seen her so closely, she looks more stringy than on TV. Incredibly, she is already in the lead in the first length, but this time she does not change pace in the third one. She still holds on until the end, and wins with a time that when she started it would have been a world record by over a second, and today is the fifth time of the year. After her race, the grandstand is emptied out quite a bit: then someone will come back, but most won't.

Around 8.30 pm, with a little delay, there is the other highlight competition: the men's 1500. Paltrinieri is third after the first 100, and I think the others have started too fast and he will catch them, then he makes a couple of 100 over one minute, and I think they are an exception, then the 100 over one minute become the rule and he loses contact, until it finds himself sixth. Then he closes fourth, while the other Italian Acerenza rallies until second aplace nd towards the 1200 gives the impression of being able to catch the first, then closes third. A Brazilian wins just under 15 ', with Paltrinieri at 15'11 ".

At the end they show a general ranking of the performances, based on a score table, and announce that there will be a victory ceremonyg for this ranking too: Pellegrini is 6 ^, Panziera 8 ^. I think it would be a good idea for athletics too. Once the competitions are over, some victory ceremonies remain: I stop until Pellegrini's, then I go.