Head or tails?

Heads or tails? The joy and peace after having reached the dream of our life; the sadness and melancholy when seeing that dream taken away from us. The aim is the same. Working for years and then getting on that winged horse and getting off in London, or get off that horse and get on with life without that great goal to reach. Four years are a long time and for some people it could mean that it is the last chance. The truth is that life must not be lived chasing a great aim, life is wonderful and must be lived to the full even without the successes we can obtain. The real success is what we find, every day, inside ourselves, when we open our eyes and start a new day. Fancy words, that some of us can appreciate and others that have to leave the nightmare of a door closing behind us that can ‘t be opened again if not perhaps, in a far away future. The faces of the two Australian girls that fought to the last sweep of the paddle to get that one and only place available at the start list, that in July will entrance us all. The younger, pretty, talented and refined and the older, in a manner of speaking, with experience on her side. In the end, the first to arrive will represent Australia, her country by adoption, at the Olympic Games, while the second closing one chapter will have to open up another one straight away.

“I am not going to the Olympics :( But maybe I will go on some other adventures instead….” Can be seen on the social network while waiting for the grand results.

A challenge to tell the truth, that leant over to one side , right from the beginning. The technical gap between the two was too large. Even if in 2008, when her sister stole the place in Bejing, going on to win the silver medal, she won the World Cup, and seemed to be the new woman on the world screen. But… life changes quickly. She started 2009 by going up and up towards success, followed by a black out – she can’t find the same style that made her win at Augsburg the year before. In 2011 she is out of the team for the World Cup. Her direct rival isn’t 18 years old yet but, just finished High School in November, the right time for getting ready for the Olympic selection. She is still a junior but has already got two awards on her personal “CV” besides the finals in the World Cup. But that isn’t the top! What made an impression on me was the results of the Oceania Championships, gate number 4. If we add the push she got at the wall of the next ascent upstream, that is gate number 6 and that’s it!! It’s true that some people are born to be champions but they have to work really hard day after day to get there. These masterpieces are the result of being clever but lots of hard work too. Masculine movements but with that touch of feminine elegance. That could have been enough for me, I could have turned off my precious MAC and ignored the magic Siwidata site. I could have bet a thousand Australian dollars that that little “fox” wouldn’t have had any rivals: that Olympic shirt would have been hers. I carried on enjoying the ferry “Maine wave” style – 9 – 10. Concluding with a last up door on the right the 11, which came after a combination of double up doors and a coast to coast to finish. At the third consecutive upstream – I don’t remember ever having seen three, one after the other, that is since the time of the 30 gates at the beginning of the 80’s – her paddle dived into the water like a rotating pivot. At that point, no hesitation, the paddle firm, the canoe rolling round it, projected out at 100 km per hour!! She lost a couple of precious seconds at the end, gate number 17 but by then the taste of glory was hers. She would have beaten Hilgertova, thirty years older than her even without that little mistake and even with a penalty. Yet another second place, the second one after the “Australian Open” two weeks ago.
I say to myself: if for some unknown reason she didn’t get to the Olympics, she could be well pleased by those three masterpieces that put her on the right road. They will guarantee her a great future. One thing is sure – if we put gains and style together we can’t miss.
I forgot to say one thing – this is the story of Kate Lawrence who will watch the Olympics on the television and Jessica Fox who is on her way to London to take part in them.


Occhio all’onda!

translate by Teresa Bergamini