My first memory is always the same. Always the same image that pops in my head. It’s me, as happy as possible, playing sports at the club, just in front of my house. That was […]
Our house was a kind of department store for sports equipment. Kayaks, canoes, balls of all sizes and weights, rollerblades: everywhere you turned there was something related to sport. The paradise of physical activity: a […]
At times, life can be scary. It can bring you in front of the deepest questions, before you even have a full understanding of their meaning. It can force you to think big, way ahead […]
Rugby is a conservative, aristocratic sport. Like boxing. It works with tiers. Crossing the results is never really enough to go forward. It can't be enough, because you have to demonstrate on the field, beating […]
“Niek, if you lose, will you be fine?” I remember my mom asking me that, when I was little, before playing games. Before playing with anything. I was a competitive kid at everything, and if […]
It's hard to attain yourself to only one memory. Actually it's not a specific memory, but it’s afeeling. The feeling of belief. The feeling of believing that I could achieve something higher and bigger than […]
How far I can throw, nobody knows. Maybe I don't know it either, even though I've never had problems dreaming big. Inside those 8.8 pounds there is a density of thoughts, of stories, of past […]
It took me quite some time to understand that in the world there are not only climbers, but also soccer players, volleyball players, basketball players, and so on. For me it was normal to spend […]
"Hey Fanny, would you like to go to the Olympics?” “Ehm... yes. Sure! Why not!?” Here it is! It all started like this, more or less, with one of the simplest and most casual conversations […]
Rey Mysterio has always been my favorite wrestler. He was smaller than the others: he always started the fights in the background, almost forgotten by the cameras. Then, suddenly, thanks to some brilliant moves and […]
Every place is my happy place, if I can climb it. Walls, rocks, mountains. But also trees, doors and windows. Where I can hold on with my hands and fingers, with my feet and with […]
I don't know what the future holds for me, but I would like it, at least, to make me happy. Happier. Because until today I haven't been happy enough. I’m just beginning to understand it. […]
I always try to look ahead, not to think about my past. But every time my parents say something, it comes back. Again and again. And it reminds me something about me, how it all […]
The village is small, and the people are many. So much so that it’s not even possible to count it. A thousand times a thousand. Then again, a thousand more times. And still It’s not […]
I've always been a hard worker. As simple as that. Sometimes you don't need to go that far back, or that much deeper to tell a good story. The core is already there. Simple. That’s […]
I need to have happiness in my life. I deserve to have it, like everyone else. Athlete or non-athlete. Adult, non-adult, or something in between. The first time I achieved something important, I was 17 […]
The speed gene is difficult to explain. Few understand it. Very few have it. And no one is really able to explain it. It’s like having a small chip, under the skin, right at […]
After four sons, Mom was very happy that I was arrived. Then, two more would be born, a boy and a girl, to get to seven, but when I came into the World, I was […]
From my mom, I got emotional intelligence. The ability to quickly understand who you are in front of, to understand how a situation will develop, and to grasp aspects that other people usually miss. From […]
I immediately fell in love with the water. I can’t say the same thing for swimming. I was on vacation with my parents and siblings, when I realized I could float like all others did, […]
Not all clubs are the same. Not all clubs have the same history, the same importance, the same relevance to their community. Basketball is beautiful everywhere. Basketball is a message of hope everywhere. Basketball is […]
“You are not just a basketball player". My parents' heart has always been in the right place, and now that I’m a dad too, I hope mine will never be outdone, in the future. If […]
At the start line of Tokyo's 400 hurdles, I felt invincible. I was like an old Viking. I was like my ancestors, like my conqueror ancestors. Ready to set sail at sea, for war, for […]
646 Miles. On my first night in college, staring at the ceiling of the room, I counted the miles that separated me from my family. And I cried. There is nothing wrong with that. Mom, […]
When I took the first jump, I understood. I realized that was the right place for me, the one where I had to be. I realized that I would never need to try anything else. […]
The human brain develops 80% of its volume during the first two years of life, letting your first 24 months on Earth determine much of the character you will have in the future. Everything takes […]
A lot of the memories that I have as a kid are ski racing, but one that I really like was when I was 14, 15 years old: the first time my dad let me […]
My older sister Inna was the first to start figure skating. She is about two years older than I am, so, of course, I was interested in everything she did. I would sometimes watch her […]
Hockey. Canada. The Olympics. My life could very well be described using only three words, the three words that I repeated to myself even during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games: hockey, Canada, and the Olympics. […]
Every coin, just like every story, has two sides. And most people, if they see one, don't see the other. Neither is false, neither is less important, neither version will ever be complete. Ignorance is […]
One step forward. One step back. Jerk to the side, feint, speed change. The idea starts from afar but then slams straight into someone else's. Like when I was a kid, and they took […]
It's been a long time now, and I don't remember many details from when I was little. Surely, growing up, I was a very active child and this is probably thanks to my brother Jamie. […]
When I walk in the evening of Livigno, avoiding the streets of the center, I need only a few steps in the right direction to find myself completely alone, in total peace. Immersed in the […]
Dad dedicated his whole life to volleyball. Mom, instead, to athletics and, although she did a little bit of everything, her absolute favorite discipline was the high jump. Here: I grew up as the direct […]
Sometimes the only thing more painful than training is not being able to do it. Sport is good, everyone knows that. Sport is good for physical and mental health. But when it becomes your job, […]
S port taught me a lot, but it never prepared me for what would come after. Many things have changed in my life since I retired, and I am still trying to figure out what […]
