ROME (ITALPRESS) – “It’s been a long journey, but now it’s time to say goodbye. Thank you for making me do it. Thank you to everyone who shared the journey with me.” Thus, with these words written on Instagram, the captain of the “Butterflies” Alessia Maurelli said goodbye to competitive gymnastics. A boundless number of medals, a very long career, the record number of Olympic participations, three, together with Martina Centofanti, Elisa Santoni and Elisa Blanchi, the captain’s armband, two bronze medals in three years at the Games in Tokyo and Paris, and a fourth place in Rio de Janeiro, more than two lustrums in the national team, a nearly 20-year career that is difficult to summarize in a few parting lines. Maurelli is all this and much, much more. Class of 1996, a native of Rivoli, in the province of Turin, but a native of Ferrara by adoption, though they also claim her in the Veneto region, given her residence in Santa Maria Maddalena, a hamlet of the municipality of Occhiobello, in Polesine, in the province of Rovigo. The Air Force’s first airman of choice announced her retirement from competitive activity, precisely at a gala organized by the Estense administration. Raised in the “Putinati” with Livia Ghetti, Alessia later moved to the International Academy of Desio, whose new gymnasium she even saw inaugurated.On the giant photographs of one of the most iconic and winning places in the world of small apparatus stands out the shot of her hoop as Centofanti jumps into it. Maurelli has made history since she was a young reserve at the European Championships in Baku in 2014. She made her World Cup debut in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she entered the quintet from which she has never left. In 2015 she began singing the Mameli Anthem, winning the World Cup in the specialty with 2 hoops and 6 clubs. She will sing “Fratelli d’Italia” many more times, at the top of her lungs! In Brazil the great bitterness of the wood, then the passing of the sash, handed to her by Marta Pagnini at the Verona Grand Prix, under the eyes of Bebe Vio, Massimiliano Rosolino and Igor Cassina. The crazy and desperate studies to erase the bad memory of carioca, the Covid pushing the goal away, and then the consecration at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Could that have been enough? Alessia thought about it, on the plane back from Japan, but then her attachment to the team and her love for this beautiful discipline suggested she continue. In Porte de la Chapelle came a meaning-filled encore, framed in her Maximilian’s promise of marriage. Maurelli was the symbol of the Kafkaesque metamorphosis of butterflies into warriors, never denying the reasons for the former nickname, claiming the whys of the latter.She for many of her generation is and will remain Captain Italia. She who called the other gymnasts into a circle to synchronize the breath and heartbeats of maidens ready to scratch the platform, convince the juries, charm the audience. She who pronounced “ready” before pulling up the relevè and entering the parade to draw the opening frame of one of Emanuela Maccarani’s many choreographies. Alessia was always a coach on the court, a communicator off. In the mixed zone she made herself the interpreter of her teammates’ words, and her ability to convey outside what she had inside led her to write “Vola come una farfalla,” published by “Il battello a vapore” (later followed in popular fury by “Graffia come una tigre”), creating a fictional character, a kind of Avatar, who, as it happens, is called “Vittoria.” Loved, appreciated and respected by all, in Italy and across the border, in Paris at almost 28 years old she was the veteran of the gymnastic mission, along with peers Nicola Bartolini and Carlo Macchini. After eight World Championships and six continental championships, an incoming degree in Institutional Business Communication, the total of 139 medals (including 62 gold) won in official international competitions, as few other champions can boast, a knighthood in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, record after record of podiums and longevity, Ale says stop. Without stopping, however. Her perpetual motion will take her elsewhere, to new challenges, who knows if in Federginnastica, which will forever remain her home.- photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
