Ready Set Go! “SportivaMente” – Varesenoi.it began with Silvia Salis and Alberto Rimedio

“SportivaMente – the Sports Books Festival” officially began last night in Busto Arsizio, in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. The initiative, organized by our newspapers of the provincial territory (InformazioneOnline.it, VareseNoi.it, ilSaronno.it, LuinoNotizie.it), opened its doors with two special guests: Silvia Salishammer throwing champion and (today) deputy vice president of CONI; Alberto Remedypresenter of the Domenica Sportiva and voice of the Italian national team on RAI.

In an intimate atmosphere, the two protagonists told some anecdotes of their life and their profession, starting from their books “The strongest girl in the world” and “Euro 2020: Wembley bows to Italy”.

Silvia Salis opened the door: «Who is the strongest girl in the world? She is an archetype of a child who does not bend to stereotypes: she wants to play a sport that is defined as “by males”, but she does not belong to this division. Her dream is to do the Olympics and the book is her story of her journey towards this dream ». Alberto Rimedio also made a return to the… past: «I dreamed of playing football, yes. But in reality my grandmother told me that as a child, at the age of 4-5, I took a comb, stood in front of the mirror and pretended to do a commentary. There was obviously a predisposition. I was unable to become a footballer, but I became a commentator ».

Among the most curious passages the relative one to the lack of commentary of the final against England, that Alberto Rimedio has been able to play down by snatching a smile from the audience: «While Mancini, Vialli and the Azzurri believed it, I was locked in a hotel room, stopped by Covid. I had the misfortune to miss the opportunity of a lifetime… It would have been the culmination of a career to tell an event like this, which doesn’t happen so often. But a curious thing happened, which I told in the book: Italy had started the game badly, I decide to order a pizza. So I call the restaurant: “Hi, I would like to order a pizza. My room number is 676, my name is Alberto Rimedio “. What do they answer me on the other side of the phone? “Ah! The Italian reporter with Covid!” The English newspapers had reported the news and therefore everyone knew it… ».

Silvia Salis, on the other hand, told a very interesting passage from her book, concentrated in the ninth chapter “Fear of winning”: «Of course there is also the fear of losing, but the fear of winning is a feeling that is underestimated even if it is often what triggers athletes. When you are about to realize what you have in front of you, it forms like a block, as if there was a ravine after that goal, because it is so central in your life that you are almost afraid to reach it ».

Both protagonists then revealed how their books were born. Alberto Rimedio wrote almost everything in the hotel: «I was there, a stone’s throw from Wembley, with the covid. Two days after the final, the publishing house of the book calls me and offers me to write it; I answer that I am available to do so, but I specify that it would also have been strongly autobiographical because I had the need, the pleasure, to let off steam, to tell what had happened: a commentator who misses the final of the European championship for Covid. So while I was in solitary confinement I started writing and much of the book was written, in fact, in a hotel room a stone’s throw from Wembley. Did I cry? No, not at that moment. While I was reading that chapter to the colleagues of the RAI Sport National team there was a bit of emotion instead ».

Silvia Salis, on the other hand, felt the need to convey something: «I’m not a writer, I do other things in life. But I believe that being born in an athletics field, having the keeper as a father, going to the Olympics and then becoming vice president of CONI, is an important sporting story, especially for what sport now represents in our country ».

In addition to these there were other stories and other memories, which will remain in the hearts of the participants; a bit like when you meet at Christmas with your family and tell each other what has been done during the year: this is the atmosphere that you breathed during the evening in the center of Busto Arsizio. A breath of fresh air. Home air.

TONIGHT THE APPOINTMENT AT MIZAR PARK WITH PELLISSIER AND LIPSTICK. THEN THE STAGES OF VARESE AND LAVENO

Archived the first appointment, also wet from a little rain in the credits, space for two other sports champions and their stories: at Mizar Park in Busto Arsizio (corso Sempione 194) tonight – Wednesday 7 September – it will be Sergio Pellissier’s turn (former footballer, now president of his Clivense) and Claudio Rossetto (speed manager of the Italian National Swimming Team), who will present “I did 31. Sergio Pellissier: life, doors and miracles” and “Totalmente Nuoto”.

The event will continue tomorrow, in Varese, with Dan Peterson and Nicoletta Romanazzi on stage; Friday in Laveno Mombello, starring Mike Maric and Francesca Porcellato; on Saturday the closing in Varese with Vincenzo Mangiacapre and Maxime Mbandà.

Below is the complete program of the next four evenings:

Wednesday 7 September, Busto Arsizio, Mizar Park
20.45 – Sergio Pellissier, former Italian footballer and sports manager, with “I made 31. Sergio Pellissier. Life, doors and miracles ”by Matteo Renzoni, Absolutely Free
21.45 – Claudio Rossettospeed manager of the Italian swimming team, with “Totalmente Nuoto”, Calzetti & Mariucci

Thursday 8 September, Varese, piazza Monte Grappa
20.45 – And Petersonjournalist, TV commentator and former basketball coach with “All Dan Peterson’s Basketball”, Centauria
21.45 – La mental coach Nicoletta Romanazzi with “Come into play with your head”, Longanesi

Friday 9 September, Laveno Mombello, Piazza Caduti del Lavoro
20.45 – Mike Maricformer Olympic champion, now doctor and coach of many Olympic champions, with “Breathing and high performance”, Calzetti & Mariucci
21.45 – Francesca PorcellatoParalympic champion with fourteen medals, e Matteo Bursi with the book “The flying red”, Baldini + Castoldi

Saturday 10 September, Varese, piazza Monte Grappa
20.45 – Vincenzo MangiacapreOlympic champion boxer, e Andrea Mercurio with the “Without guard”, Baldini + Castoldi
21.45 – Maxime MbandaItalian rugby player and knight of merit of the Italian Republic for his commitment during the pandemic, with “Fuori dalla frachia”, Piemme.

THE FESTIVAL

“SportivaMente – the Sports Books Festival” is an event, in its first edition, dedicated to the promotion of culture and sport, two fundamental and complementary sectors for the development of people and the territory.

Not only: lhe demonstration also wants to favor it development of the territoryleading Varese to become a real cultural sports district.

The goal is to become a annual appointment, accessible to all, with a strong appeal for the new generations and with a strong impact also from a relational, economic, tourist and, last but not least, intellectual point of view; an opportunity to promote sports education by sharing stories, reflections and experiences focused on health, diversity and fair play.

SportivaMente is organized by the cultural association Territory in collaboration with the cultural association square and the publishing group MoreNewswith the patronage of the Municipalities of Busto Arsizio, Laveno Mombello and Varesebeyond Coni Lombardia e Sport & Health, Panathlon Varese e Malpensa, Polha Varese.

The festival is supported by Chamber of Commerce e Varese Sport Commission, Acqua Valmora, Sirio – Multi-specialty Medical Center, G&G Renault Paglini Dealer e Stamperia Olonia.

Furthermore, the appointment is made in partnership with sports clubs Varese Basketball and Aurora Pro Patria.