Rome 1960. They were the Olympics of Abebe Bikila and Livio Berruti. But also much more. Fifteen years after the end of the war and the fall of the fascist regime, Rome conquered its modernity and its place among the great Western democracies also in sport, thanks to the feat of that little Ethiopian athlete who, finishing first in the marathon under the arch di Tito, silenced forever years of rhetoric on the imperial destinies of the nation, on which fascism had fed. That of Bikila, which is a stone's throw from what had been foolishly called via dell'Impero (today via dei Fori imperiali), was a resounding raspberry to the followers of those who still sang "black face". And it is no coincidence that even today in Rome the name of Bikila, the athlete who ran barefoot, is still a myth in the world of running and marathon. Anyone who has attended the Campo delle Aquile, now rightly named after the Rai commentator Paolo Rosi, knows what the sporting feat of the great Bikila still represents for athletes and "tapascioni" (those who go slowly, but run anyway).
But those of Rome, they were also Berruti's Olympics, the great Turin athlete who won the 200-story race, lining up the best sprinters in the world. Here I have something personal to tell. In fact, I can say that when Berruti won, at the Olympic stadium, I was also in the audience. And for a real sports school miracle. I was supposed to watch the Olympics for their entire duration as did my father and younger brother. But Professor Izzo got in the way. Which holder of letters in the VI of the Liceo Umberto of Naples, she had deemed it appropriate to send the undersigned in Latin and Greek. Exams in September therefore and no Olympics.
But precisely on the day in which Berruti was to run the 200m final, I was interrogated for the oral exams. I was examined among the first and so I jumped on the rapids at 11 and at 14 I was with my father and brother at the stadium. The position is excellent: high up, almost perpendicular to the finish line. The absolute silence of the stadium in the few minutes before the start was impressive. Then, the roar that accompanied the run (but for the composure of style one could say the dance) of Livio towards the woolen thread. Berruti was not an athlete with an explosive start. But no one like him knew how to be light in the corners and thus arrive with maximum fuel at the finish line. In the end he was the winner in 20 seconds and five tenths. If I remember correctly manual timing. And since we are talking about athleticism and speed, we must mention Giusy Leone who won a bronze in the specialties that in Rome crowned Wilma Rudolph, the American gazelle who had contracted polio as a child.
To go back to Berruti day, my big Olympic day wasn't over yet. After the athletics we moved from the Olimpico to the swimming stadium. In time to see Fritz Dennerlain from Naples finish fourth in the 200m butterfly (or was it the 100?) and above all to see the Settebello gold medal in water polo, whose captain came from Rari Nantes Naples and was Geppino D'Altrui. Years later another D'Altrui (his son) repeated his father's success thanks to the national team gold of the great Rudic.
But the Rome Olympics were also many other things. Especially for Italy which won 13 gold, 10 silver, 13 bronze medals. She thus finished third in the overall medal table behind the Soviet Union and the United States. Among the protagonists of the blue epic it is worth mentioning the three boxing gold medals: Nino Benvenuti, Francesco Musso and Franco De Piccoli, with Sandro Lopopolo and Carmelo Bossi in silver. For all of them then excellent careers as professionals. Great successes also in fencing, in what was the last Olympics of the great Edoardo Mangiarotti. Good result then in basketball with Italy fourth with Lombardi, Vittori, Riminucci, Pieri, Gamba, Vianello, Giomo and Calebotta. Also fourth in football away by draw after the semi-final against Yugoslavia. In the field champions such as Burgnich, Trapattoni, Rivera, Salvadori and Bulgarelli took their first steps. He would have talked about it later in the senior national team.
