INTERVIEW with SALVATORE FINIZIO, coach and federal manager of Olympic Wrestling
- First as an athlete, now as a technician and federal manager, Maestro Finizio lives her life in symbiosis with the Olympic Wrestling. Tell us briefly about your career.
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I have been a decent “freestyle” wrestler, sometimes loaned to the “Greco-Roman”. I have won the National University Championship several times and I was part of the youth national team. Following various injuries, I was forced to give up competitions. However, I have never been discouraged, because my great aspiration was to become a manager of the national team. And in fact, in 2005 I became the coach of the youth national team and then in 2008 the head coach of the senior national team. After years of intense work in the field, in 2016 I was elected National Councilor of FIJLKAM and, in 2021, Vice-President of the fight sector of the Lazio Regional Committee. As a technician and federal manager I can say that I have always worked with commitment and passion.
- The Olympic Wrestling is one of the main sectors of FIJLKAM (Italian Federation of Judo Fight Karate Martial Arts). After a period of decline, the Olympic Wrestling has experienced some growth in recent years. What are your impressions?
The Olympic wrestling is one of the most popular sports in the world and the Italian national team has made a great leap forward in the world rankings in the last 5 years. Suffice it to say that every year we win about 15 medals between European and world category championships. A satisfying result!
- What is the position of the Italian National Team at world level?
Currently, the Italian national team is immediately close to the big names in the world: the strongest are the teams from the countries of the former Soviet Union, USA, IRAN and CUBA.
- What are the projects and objectives of your sector at national and international level, also in view of the next Olympics?
Our goal is to qualify at least one athlete per style, with the exception of the women’s team which is growing exponentially and will be able to give us nice surprises.
- Master Finizio, how do you try to bring young people closer to the Olympic Wrestling?
The Federation, in agreement with the MIUR, has financed several school projects. Among these should be mentioned “we fight bullying” e “fight like a girl“, Which in 15 Italian regions offered the chance to try the Olympic Wrestling to over 10,000 young people who were fascinated by it. We will see in the near future how they will continue. In the months of June and July, the Federation will be engaged in a titanic effort: in Ostia, in the PalaPellicone, the because of the senior in the Ranking series (a real world cup), i European Under20 Championships and, then, the grand finale with the Under-17 World Championship where over 1000 participants from over 60 countries will be on stage.
The FIJLKAM and the Lotta sector await you in Ostia for the great Summer of the OLYMPIC FIGHT!
