A very heavy gold, very long to take, 30 spectacular laps though: Greg played the race he wanted, he shook the world record of Sun Yang for 1450 meters when he had half a second too much and in the end he finished in 14'34″ 57. He didn't need to improve on May's European record, the second time in history of 14'34″04, to become Olympic champion. But time, as he said, didn't count in front of the most precious, most prestigious medal, the one that makes you a legend. Only Federica Pellegrini has won the Olympic gold with the world record in Beijing, but this time the Venetian champion, eagerly awaited at her fourth Olympics, has misfired and the big boy from Carpi who trains in Ostia has taken care of reviving Italy in swimming , at his second Olympics after the beautiful and promising fifth place in London 2012.
Greg becomes the third Italian (fourth with Fede among women) five-hoop champion after Fioravanti's double in the breaststroke and Massi Rosolino in the 200 medley in Sydney. He defeated the field by swimming as only Grant Hackett could: ready go and see you on arrival, this was the case again this time, this is how the last ace of blue swimming, 21 years old from Carpi, first in the world ranking and European record holder from 2014, as well as world champion and world record holder in short course since last year.
The symbol of the new Italian generation that is making its way trains in Ostia with Stefano Morini. A policeman, he is 191 centimeters tall and weighs 76 kg and his story begins in Emilia, where his father Luca, a good ex-competitive swimmer, manages the Novellara swimming pool in the province of Reggio Emilia. It was in that pool that the swimmer from Carpi began training under the guidance of his father. Gregorio's career began in the breaststroke, which remained his specialty until he was 12 years old. Subsequently, thanks to his physical development and his considerable stature, he moved on to freestyle. With results that brought him to Olympus.
