Gauff: Praying for the opponent

GAUFF
There is a tennis champion, Coco Gauff, who shows off a surprising smile, just a detail of her beauty, when she reveals the original way of praying. She turns to God not to ask for victory, but to ask that her opponent, and herself, do not get hurt during the match. It is a noble way of exercising sports culture, comparable to that of many other athletes, but perhaps with more selfish purposes before the competitions.
ALTRUISTA

SCARLINO
The initiative “A hook from God” took place in Rozzano. For one day, a ring was set up in the oratory, the first in the North, and the second in Italy, with the aim of making it permanent. The organizer is Don Luigi Scarlino of the local youth ministry, with the Colpitori movement, founded by Federica Guglielmini and Dome Bufalo. The name comes from the fact that poets and boxers have the need to strike: to leave a mark.
LYRIC

GILLI
The great Paralympic swimmer Carlotta Gilli brings free courses, in the pool, to children with disabilities: «I would like their life to be no different from that of their peers. What matters is that they are happy». She has earned the nickname “Wonder Gilli”, because she dedicates herself to many activities, such as university (psychology) or a book she wrote to tell her experience. For her, swimming is a philosophy, a way of being in the world, according to precise rules.
WONDER

PARKINSONAUTS
Scientific data says that Parkinson's disease is the most widespread pathology among former boxers, and rugby players. In Italy, Stefano Ghidotti has founded a unique community of Parkinson's patients and athletes. In his wake, other amateurs, despite health problems, still manage to practice disciplines such as triathlon, swimming, running and cycling. It is a sports community, which over the years has gathered over 450 members spread throughout Italy.
UNSTOPPABLE

AHMADI
Atefeh Ahmadi was the only refugee athlete in the Ski World Championships. She, fleeing Iran, wants to continue the sport and be free. She trains in Germany thanks to the International Olympic Committee, and competes independently. She was the flag bearer for Iran in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, 3 times silver medalist at the Asian championships. The choice to abandon her country was necessary to live peacefully.
FIGHTER

ROSSI
He is not Pablito Rossi, a great champion who disappeared, but Pepito Rossi, a great champion... who appeared. He appeared every now and then, when he managed to recover from one of his countless injuries. It is right to salute the retirement of this boy who will say goodbye to football in March, in Florence, at 38 years old, because the conditional, in his case, was not a gamble. He would have truly become an ace if fate had not mocked him.
UNLUCKY

ORMEZZANO
I am heartbroken by the passing of a colleague, who was my director at Tuttosport: Gian Paolo Ormezzano. I like to remember him here, especially for the bond he had with the Catholic environment, namely with the weekly Famiglia Cristiana. The heroic times of the 1960 Rome Olympics come to mind, when it was Ormezzano who brought the Berruti gold medal back by car, without a highway, to Turin.
LEGENDARY
 

Carlo Nesti
NP March 2025