There are not only Jannik and Kimi: who are the young Italians who can rewrite the history of Italian sport
Jannik Sinner and Kimi Antonelli. Two names that everyone knows by now, two symbols of a competitive Italy that is not afraid of anything except losing. Sport in the blood, a winning mind, talent combined with hard work. But the blue potential is not limited to the two of them. Indeed, by digging just a little, we realize that this is only the so-called “tip of the iceberg”. No, there are stories that are equally fascinating, equally beautiful, potentially equally successful. Less known, of course, also because tennis and Formula 1 have a much greater resonance than rugby or running. Yet, there are five young athletes who are already rewriting the history of their sport. And, more generally, of the Italian one. They are worth remembering too.
Sara Curtis, the future of swimming
The father is Italian, the mother Nigerian, but she grew up in Savigliano. Sara Curtis, class of 2006, holds the Italian record in the 50 and 100 meters freestyle. She chose to study in America, at Virginia University, because her horizon is specific: the Los Angeles 2028 Games. Very fast in the water, eclectic outside. A girl who knows exactly where she wants to go, and who has already proven that she has everything it takes.
Kelly Douala, the sprinter
He’s 16 and runs like he’s constantly late. Instead he anticipates everyone. Kelly Doualla, born in Pavia in 2009 to Cameroonian parents, is European Under 20 champion in the 100 meter dash and has already rewritten three Italian category records: 7″27 on the 60 meters indoors, 9″32 on the 80 and 11″46 on the 100. Numbers that speak for themselves. The national team has already called her up: from 20 to 22 March she will participate in the World Cup. An athlete who, at her age, is already well beyond the boundary between promise and concrete reality.
Giovanni Franzosi, the spearhead of skiing
Born in 2001, from Brescia with fury. Giovanni Franzoni won theOlympic silver in the downhill at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Gamesreviving men’s blue skiing after years in which it was women who kissed medals and held the tricolor flag high. He said of himself: “I am stubborn and full of doubts.” A very personal definition that is probably worth more than many biographies. Tenacity as fuel, doubt as a compass. Fall, get up, start again. It is the most intimate secret of sport. Franzoni learned this the hard way, and now he is the spearhead of Italian skiing.
Tommaso Menoncello, the rugby giant
They wittily call it “Paese”, just like the town where he grew up, near Treviso. Tommaso Menoncello, born in 2002, is a center for Benetton and will soon be a center for Stade Toulousain, one of the strongest clubs in the world. Represents the symbol of an Italian rugby that returns to believing in itself. The historic victory against England, in this sense, could be the beginning of something new. And Menoncello, with the blue shirt, wants to be among those who write that glorious story. As protagonists.
Flora Tabanelli: balance above all
At 18, many are still looking for their own path. Some never find it. Flora Tabanelli, on the other hand, born in Bologna in 2007, has found hers and already traveled it for a good stretch. In freestyle he conquered an Olympic bronze, an X Games gold medal, an overall World Cup and a big air World Cup. All together, these results make her the most successful Italian athlete ever in the discipline. At 18 years old. A very original story, his. Grew up in a refuge in the Apennines, without television or smartphone, with the piano and mathematics as her traveling companions. A rare talent, built on an increasingly rare basis: balance.
