Italian
Eight new tiles have been laid in the Walk of Fame of Italian sports, each dedicated to a legend of the azure sport
ROME – Eight new tiles in the iconic Walk of Fame of Italian sports, the paved floor of legends that stretches from Viale delle Olimpiadi to the Olympic Stadium in Rome. Eight champions who have made history in Italian sports. Yesterday at the Foro Italico, the President of CONI Giovanni Malagò and the General Secretary Carlo Mornati unveiled their plaques for the newcomers brothers Franco and Pino Porzio (water polo), Gerda Weissensteiner (luge and bobsleigh), Giorgio Di Centa (cross-country skiing), Gianluigi Buffon (football), Francesca Piccinini (volleyball), Elisa Di Francisca (fencing), and Aldo Montano (fencing).
An honor reserved only for the sports legends of the Bel Paese who have raised the tricolor flag on the world’s most important stages. Malagò opened the event with the Porzio brothers, gold with the Settebello at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, then moving on to Gerda Weissensteiner, the first and only Italian athlete capable of winning Olympic medals in two different winter disciplines. The next plaque was that of Giorgio Di Centa, Olympic gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin in the 50 km cross-country skiing.
Next up was the former captain of the National football team and current head of delegation, Gianluigi Buffon, world champion in Germany 2006. He is the eleventh footballer to enter the Walk of Fame alongside legends such as Giuseppe Meazza, Silvio Piola, Valentino Mazzola, Dino Zoff, Gianni Rivera, Gigi Riva, Roberto Baggio, Paolo Maldini, Paolo Rossi, and Fabio Cannavaro.
From one global success to another, always on German soil, but in volleyball in 2002 where the Queen was Francesca Piccinini, recently awarded with induction into the World Hall of Fame.
Closing with two stars of Italian fencing: Elisa Di Francisca, golden foil fencer in London 2012 both individually and in the team event, and then silver in the individual event in Rio 2016, and Aldo Montano, individual Olympic champion in sabre in Athens 2004 and four-time team medalist.
Photo Credits: Ferdinando Mezzelani GMT
