Dog doesn’t eat dog is almost never valid. It’s athlete against athlete, with a high concentration of poison. There are tears, confusion, emotions at the poolside of a 19-year-old girl who has trained hard, who loses a medal that she surely wanted and the spiteful, angry, inappropriate comments from a TV studio by a 41-year-old woman who in a not too distant time was an Olympic athlete.
Blessed Pilate she comes out of that first lane that penalized her, just one damn cent, “an asshole” she says through tears, while, in a disorderly chaotic and emotional way, oscillating between happiness and depression, she explains that she is satisfied anyway. She is overwhelmed by emotions, she doesn’t know whether to be happy for having participated in an Olympic final, or whether to cry because a damn cent denied her the podium. She is confused and unhappy. She is young and inexperienced, she has no inhibitions, she releases her emotions, she lets everything she is feeling come out of her stomach. She didn’t want to give lessons, but maybe she didn’t want to receive them either.
Di Francisca’s attack
It was still the highest point of his career, a day of those that become dates to remember. From the Rai studio Elisa DiFranciscaOlympic foil medalist in London 2012, a cumbersome figure never too loved by her teammates, one might expect words of understanding, of affection: she was an athlete, she should be made of the same stuff as Pilate, she should have a culture of sport, of defeat, knowing that losing sometimes clouds one’s lucidity and that even if that were not the case, a swimmer who for a penny doesn’t have a medal around her neck has the right to live as she pleases after the race. And that at 19 years old you can be immature. From Francisca instead: “I didn’t understand anything about this interview”. Then: “Either he is there or he is making us”. Not satisfied: “This interview is surreal”. And again: “I shiver”. She is not totally satisfied then: “Do another interview with her, we need subtitles”. Boom.
The reactions
The social networks are going wild with comments, and Pilato herself reposts some with the comment “There’s a competition to see who shivers the most”.
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There are those who talk about gender issues, why a man would be allowed to do this, about women who hate women, about envy, about the culture of sports. The queen of women’s sports, Our Lady of Swimming, intervenes, Federica Pellegrini who takes sides without attacking: leave her free.
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The (half) apology
Punctually, when the controversy is uncontrollable, apologies are presented. But even half-hearted ones: “I said the things I said in good faith”. Despite the words on air, she claims that “I only have to give explanations to those directly involved”. And then: “I spoke on the phone with Benedetta, I explained my reasons that can be distorted, because not all people think the same way. I told her ‘if I offended your sensibilities in some way I apologize’. I hope to meet her after the races too. I also spoke with Malagò, he knows everything and I also spoke with the Police, because we are colleagues, but we are also sportswomen, we understand each other”. In short, it is a question of character and the fault lies with the world: “Everyone has their own character. I have a character, but I understand that society today is like this. There was no reason to argue. However, I am a public figure, I accept the good and the bad. It is right to clarify in person”.
#Francisca #Attacks #Pilato #Fourth #Place #Swimming
– 2024-07-31 12:54:52