News
26/07/2009Once upon a time...
Once upon a time there was a girl from Mirano, a gifted girl who suddenly begun to be afraid to face 400 m free style match. Mental blocks, anxiety and fear were part of her daily life and made her feel no more able to face “long distances” . But the young girl , not yet 21, was so determined and her passion was so strong that sometimes her colleagues were jealous, also of the awareness she had to be the number one. The only thing she had to do was to chase away all those fears. And she made the first step in June, during the Mediterranean Games : she was quick as a flash in Pescara’s stadium. Rome represents her second home. Rome adopted and protected this girl in the most difficult moments of her life. And one day, during one of the hottest Italian afternoon, the girl from Mirano (Veneto region), who once was so afraid to face the 400m free style, decided to score an historical record: 3’59’’15. She is the first woman all over the world who covered the 400m distance in less than 4 minutes. During the press conference she would have said: “ I usually don’t listen to the public support, but today I have to say that it encouraged me since the beginning of the match”. Her smile, her hands moving on her face to realize what she had done, the happiness she felt in winning a gold medal at home, in her pool, in front of almost 15 thousand fans.
Once upon a time there was a girl from Mirano who was afraid to face 400m free style. Today that girl is not the same anymore: she is Federica Pellegrini, the World Champion.