In these days of Cinque Cerchi Paola Egonu does not think of her own, of those she proudly brought to the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Summer Games. She watches them appear on TV, emerge from her photos, but they seem very distant to her and in any case they lead her into a world made of desires where she now doesn’t want to be: «It’s a beautiful memory that doesn’t work now. I prefer to think about bad things, so I keep my feet on the ground and they don’t tell me that I believe myself more than I am ».
Do the Olympics bring back bad memories?
“Maybe. That return was not easy to dispose of ».
Eliminated in the quarters and criticized for being “distracted by social networks”. Would they have told a men’s team?
«It doesn’t exist, they would never do it because women’s sport is still little considered. The results are worth it, of course, but the approach is full of prejudices and stereotypes. Take the volleyball championship in Italy, in my team, Conegliano, I believe that today there is more play than in the majority of men’s matches where they just shoot hard ».
Are volleyball players still considered misses?
«Less, it improves. Slowly. Even if the idea of the tall one, with the ideal measures, persists, as if a team were made with the casting ».
Have you ever received any comments about the physique that bothered you?
“Fortunately not, but unfortunately I have a collection of bad behavior. Club Italia, as a girl, I don’t remember the age, minors and one of the staff says to a partner: “You don’t breathe in that shirt, you look like a sausage”. He stuck with me, with a phrase like this you do damage ».
Would it be right to ask technicians to go to sensitivity school? Australia, amidst a thousand problems, has begun specific training.
«It would be enough if they talked about what they know, in my case, volleyball. Stop. They are not nutritionists, they are not psychologists, they must not allow themselves to leave their field ».
Gymnast Simone Biles, in Tokyo, put the emphasis on the health of female athletes. She starts again with the Winter Games and NBC’s comment on the fall of Mikaela Schiffrin, two gold medals for the USA in 2018, is: «What a disappointment, what a mistake. A stain that remains “.
“And who is surprised? We are considered machines, it’s okay only as long as you’re superwoman. If you fall, you have the wrong attitude or it didn’t take long or you thought about your own business. On the other hand, to realize when to take a step backwards to respect one’s body, it takes a lot of courage ».
Has it happened to her?
“At the beginning. With every mistake you hear yourself say: “what a wasted opportunity”. Ridiculous, careers are not made up of clear paths ».
Have you seen Sanremo?
“Very little, but I followed him on social networks.”
You will have received the monologue of the actress Lorena Cesarini: “I thought I was Italian, I discovered I was black”.
«Useless controversy. I wonder how long you have to go through this nonsense. I’m sorry for her, justly happy to be there, naively very happy unfortunately. I also experienced those sensations, I hope we reach a generation that is free from them ».
Why not now?
“People speak. I know that I don’t have to give importance to certain voices and yet, maybe for a moment, I think about it and it hurts ».
Well to talk about racism on the Sanremo stage or better not to leave room for those who do not understand?
«If we talk about it it is immediately too much, if we don’t it becomes silence. Even on this in the end it seems he is just wrong. We have to try, honestly ».
How do you do it?
«I tell myself: Paola what counts is the people you would go to war with. Don’t care about the others. “
Who would he go to war with?
“I don’t burn names”
Do you often go to war?
“All the time, too much. There are positions that must be defended ».
When was the last time?
“A few days ago, I avoid saying the reason: if I advertise certain battles they lose their effectiveness.”
Then tell me about a battle that is now buried.
“Luckily I forget them, if I brought them with me they would crush me.”
Who is he confronted with when those annoying voices enter his life?
“With my family, my father, my mother, my sister. I have been away from them since I was very young, but by now I have gotten used to long-distance relationships “.
Now the distances could change, it is said that she is ready to go and play abroad.
“Now everything is open.”
In the past, Turkey has offered her heavy contracts and refused. Are they trying it today?
“Compared to last year, I feel ready for another adventure. At the moment, however, I remain focused on Conegliano ».
For the first time in a long time, the volleyball championship is open. Are you tired or do you improve others?
“The opponents are different and Conegliano has to find his own balance”.
They called you “unplayable” because there was no competition. How do you keep motivation after winning everything?
“I always want to be the best, to prove my worth.”
Do you think there is still someone who has not understood it?
«I hope not, but I know that in sport one no longer wins or loses. Either you win or you slaughter, as they did with us at the last Olympics. With the truncheon. Then we won the European Championships and everyone was proud of us. Oh no, that’s not how it works with me ».
What is Paola Egonu dreaming of today?
“To live in a world where people make their own cabbages.”
But she is a public figure, there is curiosity.
“Not the morbid one, I feel spied on, as if they are waiting for the bullshit to point the finger.”
She’s in love?
“No. Too much volleyball, I dedicate myself to it with every fiber ».
Too much need to prove?
“I’m doing what I need to do. Including my own business ».
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