Milan-Cortina 2026, Achille Polonara moves everyone again

The journey of the Olympic flame officially kicked off from Rome, with some exceptional torchbearers such as Gregorio Paltrinieri, the first ever, Elisa Di Francisca and Gianmarco Tamberi. Then there was one even more special because of the battle he is fighting against leukemia, namely Achille Polonara. The basketball player, who only a few weeks ago was in a coma after a bone marrow transplant, walked his part of the very long relay that will end in two months in Milan and specifically at the San Siro stadium where the opening ceremony will be staged on Feb. 6.

“It was a great emotion, I was super nervous and nervous today but everything went well. It&#8217s also a thrill to be on my feet, until a week ago I was still in a wheelchair, so it–s a great success – said the former Virtus Bologna player, now a member of Dinamo Sassari and appointed captain of the National Team by new coach Luca Banchi -. It’s been complicated, I hope to be at the end and that from now on things will be better. Being an athlete has helped me a lot and my young age has also played its part. I have always been a fighter”. “Passing the flame to him was immensely satisfying. I know what he went through and it is not to be wished on anyone, but he faced everything as a warrior”, said Gianmarco Tamberi.

Friday, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella lit the Olympic brazier for the Milan Cortina 2026 Games in the Quirinale square. “The lighting of the Olympic Flame, which kicks off an enthralling journey through the Regions of Italy, not only signifies a great sporting event: it also holds, with well known, a high symbolic value and recalls principles, ideals that throughout history have maintained their character of universality” said Mattarella. “The Olympic Fire – continued the Head of State on the sidelines of the ceremony – reminds us that women and men can aspire to ever higher goals, that they are free and capable of progress, and that awareness of common destiny and common progress requires human fraternity, urges solidarity, demands that there be no overpowering, that any claim to superiority by ethnic origin, religious belief, social condition” be banished.

“This message is relaunched every day by young people who participate in sports, by the diverse universe of amateurs, by the true champions of every discipline”,

he concluded.