On Monday September 23, the “Meravigliosi” Gala took place in Rome, honoring Italy’s aquatic sports champions. The seventh edition of the event was held at the Olympic Stadium, where athletes, coaches, officials, sponsors, and institutional representatives gathered to celebrate Italy’s victories at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The day’s celebrations began with a prestigious event in the morning. At 11:00 AM, Italian President Sergio Mattarella welcomed Olympic and Paralympic medalists, along with their coaches and officials, to a special ceremony at the Quirinale building. For the first time, athletes who finished in fourth place were also honored.
We met Gregorio Paltrinieri who opened up about the elbow injury he sustained shortly after the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics. Reflecting on his recovery, Paltrinieri shared a mix of optimism and frustration:
“It’s always wonderful, just like every other night,” he said when asked about how he was feeling. But when the conversation shifted to his elbow, the tone changed slightly: “Yeah, it’s not wonderful. It’s my Achilles’ heel right now. The elbow is better, but it still doesn’t allow me to do what I love the most, which is swimming. Even on vacation, I couldn’t swim, and that really bothered me. But it’s getting better.”
Despite the injury, Paltrinieri remains focused on the future: “The plan is to get back in the water, but it’ll take some time. I’m also overdue for a vacation, which I’ll take next month. Looking at the big picture, the four-year Olympic cycle is long, and a lot can happen. Right now, I just need to take it easy. People break their elbows and other things happen, but luckily for me, it happened a minute after the ceremony.”
The injury, though frustrating, seems to have come at the best possible time—allowing Paltrinieri to recover and focus on the long road ahead.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
(In Italian)
For those who don’t know: after the ceremony he was going back to his rooms on an e-bike and fell off the bike just a few metres from home.
This is a serious post. Could his elbow problem be exacerbated by his strange technique?
Sounds like it was an acute injury (bike accident).
I haven’t heard of him having other joint issues in his career but I’m not Italian.
Only previous issue I recall was getting mono right before Tokyo.
My favorite non-US swimmer
natural pure hardworking knucklehead
How did he hurt himself?