TALENT
TALENT, COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION: THE PODIUM OF SUCCESS BY SECOND VANESSA FERRARI

Getting to be the first Italian woman to win a gold medal at the World Arts Championships at the age of 16 is an incredible goal. But the true titanic enterprise can succeed in reconfiguring over time. And continue to win, no matter who the new opponents, no matter what the difficulties are. Vanessa Ferrari knows this very well. She, class 1990, who grew up in the province of Cremona and became a small big star of tricolor sport, made Make it possible a true philosophy of life. Or rather, a magic formula, to keep repeating every day in front of the mirror and beam, challenge after challenge, workout after training, medal after medal. The result, for her, is a spell of grace and power that for years has left the whole world open.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU “MAKE IT POSSIBLE”?
In my case it means first of all so much workout and so many sacrifices. And so much commitment and a lot of constancy, because the results never come by chance. Artistic gymnastics are a sport that starts very young, and professional athletes usually stop very soon. This means that to get to the highest levels you have to make a lot of kidnapping: spend whole days at the gym, have little time for yourself, go on vacation just a few days or sometimes do not get off at all, except for the commemorated parties. All in the face of a result that is never guaranteed to be one hundred percent. But that is the case: if you want to have the hope of getting there, you have to believe it all the way, and behave accordingly.

 

WHAT WAS YOUR APPROACH TO ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS?
I started at 7 years, which is already too late for this discipline. From a tiny time I saw a gymnast at the beam, and I asked my mom to do the same sport. But in my country, Soncino, in the province of Cremona, there was no artistic gymnastics team, so he enrolled me in dance. After a while she realized that she did not do it for me: so when I was about seven years old she started taking me to Brescia for my first training sessions. My mother is of Bulgarian origin, and has always had a great passion for sport. A passion that has been absolutely able to convey.

 

WHO WOULD YOU KNOW THAT THIS SPORT FOR YOU WAS EVERYTHING MORE THAN ONE PASSAGE?
From a small one it seemed like a game, of course. I enjoyed it like a madman doing bugs here and there, and that was enough for me. Then, growing up, I was called for the Juniors National I was 12 or 13 years old, and at that time I began to understand that I had the chance to become a professional athlete.

WHAT WERE THE LARGEST SATISFACTIONS OF YOUR CAREER?
Without a doubt the gold medal at the 2006 World Championship in Denmark was one of the finest joys. It was the first gold in history for an Italian athlete, and I was very excited, although I was still too small to fully understand the meaning of what I was experiencing. For the rest, personally, it was a great pleasure to see how I was able to face the disappointment of the London Olympics. It was a very hard time for me, but the following year, in 2013, I was able to win silver at the Antwerp World Cup. And then in 2014 gold to the Europeans of Sofia. Here, these were two beautiful moments: when you are little you all have little expectation towards you, and when you win is a triumph; But then growing, year after year, the pressure increases, not to mention that you start competing with athletes much younger and more carefree than you. Continuing to reconfirm is undoubtedly the most difficult thing to do. And so when you can, it’s a bit odd feeling.