Andrea Zorzi, Matteo Rivolta and Luca Dotto, three champions of Italian sport, were among the protagonists of the day at the Giffoni Film Festival, thrilling the young audience with their stories and advice.
The volleyball legend pays due tribute to the golden moment of the Italian volleyball team, "two young squads whose results, achieved with players who are so talented and so different from one another, fill me with pride," but warns that success is not everything, because "the world is not divided between winners and losers."
"In the youth context this happens even more," Zorzi explains. "There is an Everest to climb: either I am at the top or I have failed. That is not true — sport is just one room in a house called life. I may have won or lost, but it is just a game, not the universe."
Swimming champions Rivolta and Dotto share the most authentic dimension of sport: one made up of talent, sacrifice, patience and the ability to turn the 'impossible' into a concrete moment — the theme around which their meeting with the young audience was centred. "It is that thrill of recklessness and madness that makes you dream of reaching the impossible, it gives you the energy to overcome obstacles or terrible periods," Rivolta explained. "When you are little, qualifying for the Italian championships seems impossible, then imagining winning an Olympic medal becomes the impossible thing — but it is a good thing if it helps you improve, and not if it is a weight that crushes you." The audience also received a message about the relationship with mistakes and the future, with Dotto speaking about his fear of life after a sporting career: "I have always been terrified of the end, even at 20 or 21 years old. When you focus too much on the future, you lose the present. Having a goal makes sense, but you also have to enjoy the journey."
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