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26/07/2009Valerio Cleri: the gold medal stops in Rome
When heart goes beyond boundaries. Anger and pride are the ingredients to reach a deserved victory. Valerio Cleri, after reaching the fourth place among the controversies, reaches the most desired medal during the 10 km competition: the hardest one, the so called “sea run”. A 25 km race in which your only friends are sea’s creatures. The sea is his own home: Valerio Cleri, a 28 years-old boy (on June 19th) from Palestrina, was yearning for this medal for so long, since the fourth place he reached in Beijing and the other one, even more bitterly reached in the 10 km race last Wednesday. After more than five hours of strokes, fatigue and supply, the Italian athlete arrives before Grimsey, the Australian, and Dyatchin, the Russian. The first Italian gold medal in these 13th FINA World Championships goes to a boy from Rome, who found strengthen in himself, the strengthen to go beyond all controversies and stress and to prepare himself for the revenge, which is the result of a unique peacefulness, of the awareness to be the strongest one; indeed he said at the end of the competition: “Maybe people are surprised for the gold medal, but not me”. Until today they spoke about a “totally female team”: Valerio Cleri demonstrates that there are no differences between men and women as a team, because Italy is a unique great team.
Italy has done very well also in the 25 km race. Federica Vitale has reached the bronze medal. The gold one goes to the German Angela Maurer, while the silver one goes to the Russian Anna Uvarova. Moreover, Martina Grimaldi, the other Italian athlete in this competition, has been in the lead of the competition for a long time. But Maurer and Uvarova recovered towards the end and reached the podium. Grimaldi, who won the bronze medal in the 10 km race, got the seventh place.
Valerio CLERI (ITA) - gold
"I did my best. This time the race was less exciting, but maybe it was better. It was a different situation because there was no final sprint (unlike the 10km event). In the last two laps I decided to swim faster and faster."
Trent GRIMSEY (AUS) - silver
"During the last lap I gave the race my pace. But in the final shoot there was no competition with him (CLERI, ITA)."
Vladimir DYATCHIN (RUS) - bronze
"I'm satisfied with having won a medal after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, even though I won a gold in Melbourne 2007."
Angela MAURER (GER) - gold
"My goal in Rome was a medal and I got gold."
Anna UVAROVA (RUS) - silver
"It was very difficult because of the sea. It was really wavy. I'm very satisfied with my final sprint."
Federica VITALE (ITA) - bronze
"It's the greatest thing I have made up to now, even comparing to Montreal (2005 World Championships). This time I really wanted to make it."