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The “Avvocato”,
the former Chairman of the Fiat Group and the guiding
force behind the carmaker for many decades, would have
smiled in his own way at the first gold medal of the
Olympic Winter Games for Italy, an event that he so much
wanted to take place in his beloved Turin: it would have
been just as fantastic a sight for him as seeing the
third star shine on the Juventus player's shirts.
The Olympic Winter Games are an orphan of Gianni Agnelli,
however they always remember him. So much so as that
Italian sport on Tuesday paid tribute to the man who is
not with it any more. Armin Zoeggeler, newly crowned as
Italian luge champion, represented everyone in a lay
procession, a rite that was celebrated at sunset in the
cemetery of Villar Perosa, the small town set amongst
the Piedmont mountains which is the Agnelli family
cradle and tomb. The luge champion from Alto Adige,
dressed in the silver jacket which Italy athletes
paraded in during the Opening Ceremony, was punctual in
arriving at the top of the hill where the gate to the
old cemetery is situated. Deeply moved, the chilly Armin
confessed. “I am here for the first time. It is an
honour for me”. Then he climbed up the hill, step by
step, followed by the large delegation from Coni: the
President Gianni Petrucci, the mission head Raffaele
Pagnozzi, the President of the Federation Coppi and
Bolognini, the luge team coach Marco Andreatta, and then
lots of interested people, fans, and children.
Senator Giovanni Agnelli’s relationship with the XX
Olympic Winter Games was a very deep one. It went back
to the candidature period: his personal efforts and his
work in the area of international persuasion contributed
in a very significant way to the successful outcome of
Torino’s Olympic Games candidature.
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The XX Winter Olympic
Games kicked off last Friday in Fiat's home city of
Turin with a glittering Opening Ceremony' that was
watched on television by more than two billion
people across the globe. |
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The first Italian athlete to win a gold medal at Torino
2006 Armin Zoeggeler, led a delegation on Tuesday to Villar Perosa, the
Agnelli family's home village in the Pdemontese mountains, to pay tribute to the 'Avvocato'
the driving force behind Turin's successful candidature. |
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Mr Agnelli had been appointed honorary member of the IOC in
2000 by the President of the time, Juan Antonio Samaranch,
after serving in 1999 as part of the “IOC 2000” Committee,
appointed to rewrite the rules of the Olympic movement. In
his position as an honorary member of the IOC, the
“Avvocato” took part in the General Assembly on July 10th
2001 in Moscow that terminated the mandate of Juan Antonio
Samaranch, and welcomed the new IOC President, Jacques
Rogge.
After he had led the delegation to Agnelli's graveside,
Armin Zoeggeler met with the Avvocato’s heir, John Elkann,
the relative that the grandfather had indicated to be his
successor. Elkann did not delay proceedings, he greeted
Armin, before opening the door of the chapel and starting
the emotional visit to the crypt. Zoeggeler asked a few
questions before laying on the floor, in front of the tomb
of the Avvocato, an evergreen composition created to be a
homage to Italian sport: 'Il Coni con gratitudine' (Coni
with gratitude) the writing on the bright blue and gold band
enriching the basket read.
After his umpteenth triumph in the luge discipline, the
athlete from Merano shows a little emotion after his win
this week, the first gold medal to be awarded to the host
nation Italy, in these Games: “Winning at home is really
moving, it is very intense. This was the most difficult race
of my career. It is a pleasure to drive the luge, it takes
you to such levels. For this reason I will carry on
competing as long as I feel this pleasure. You must have
feeling with speed, and control the luge on the basis of the
pressure that arrives from your body. You can’t see the
track, you feel the speed and you react automatically: you
drive by moving your feet, your shoulders and if necessary,
especially in the most angled curves, your hands," he also
added.
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