«The victory in Tokyo was the one that gave me the most satisfaction. It was the most important day of my life together with the birth of my daughter.” Gianmarco Tamberi retraces his journey towards Olympic gold during the event “Urbano Cairo and Gianmarco Tamberi: Always higher”, at the Trento Sports Festival.
Tokyo gold and friendship with Barshim
«That gold inextricably linked the friendship between Barshim and me. The worst thing about individual sport is that when you win you are alone: there is no one who shares this immense joy with you”, says Tamberi. «That day I got to experience that happiness with Barshim. Both of our eyes shone with happiness and I would never trade that moment in my life for anything.”
«Rio 2016 is a scar, but I wouldn’t change my path»
The champion also focuses on the difficulties he faced before his success: «Falls in sport are the things that do you the most good of all, because they push you to always do better even if they hurt you a lot. The Rio 2016 Olympics are a scar that I carry inside me, but I would never change my path.”
«The following years were very difficult, but I didn’t think about anything other than the dream of winning Olympic gold. Until Tokyo 2021 it seemed like a distant goal even in the eyes of all the people close to me.”