You can heal from Covid and mononucleosis, you can overcome injuries to the knee ligaments and ribs, you can recover from an elbow surgery and in the end be able to take part in the most important sporting event in the world. You can start from the family gym in Molise, the “region that does not exist”, and arrive in Japan, the “cradle” of martial arts, climbing one by one the steps of the international ranking to win an Olympic medal, subverting all predictions and showing that everything, with sacrifice and passion, is possible. The story of Maria Centracchio, bronze in judo in Tokyo in the -63 kg category, is an incredible obstacle course, which began in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and ended in the summer of 2021, the most successful in the history of Italian sport. Among the forty blue medals of the XXXII edition of the Games, the one won by the athlete from Isernia is among the most significant. Witness the words of Odette Giuffrida, one of the most successful Italian judoka ever, who is entrusted with the preface, and those of the other members of the blue expedition, impressed by the willpower of Maria, who never gave up despite the many adversity. And that for the first time is told in the book by Volturnia Edizioni written by the journalist Antonino Morici, correspondent of the Gazzetta dello Sport at the Tokyo Olympics. A life spent chasing the dream of an Olympic medal – the first individual ever for Molise – starting from the parents’ gym to the Nippon Budokan tatami, the most prestigious. A great life lesson for the new generations.
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