Gianmarco Tamberi will have to do without the Diamond League stage of tomorrow in Monte Carlo but the fundamental fact is, as he has made it known, that participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics is not at risk. ‘Gimbo’, flag bearer for Italy at the Games and captain of Italian athletics, during the warm-up of the Szekesfehervar farm in Hungary complained of pain in the biceps femoris of his left leg, the take-off leg. The Italian high jumper, European champion a month ago at the Olympic Stadium of Rome under the eyes of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, he underwent MRI.
Gianmarco himself reassured everyone, insiders but also fans and, why not, opponents, with a long post on Instagram, the same means of communication used yesterday to announce his withdrawal from the race in Hungary. “I’m not ashamed to say it, I cried 3 times in the last 24 hours, probably because of the tension, probably because of the fear, and maybe also because I’ve already experienced all of this – wrote Tamberi, 32 years old from Civitanova Marche, standard-bearer of the Fiamme Oro -. I feel like crying Even now as I write this, it destroys me to think that I might compromise my path towards what I have worked so hard for.”
Then speaking about resonance, ‘Gimbo’ reassured“fortunately muscle injuries were excluded, but the MRI showed a significant edematous area of the biceps femoris probably due to a small myofascial injury (the membrane that covers the muscle)” and added, “recovery times should in theory be quite quick but I will definitely have to undergo a week of intensive therapy and differentiated training.”
Tamberi, trained since March 2023 by Giulio Ciotti after having been trained for many years by his father Marco, then added, “the Olympics are not in danger as times but all the approach races that would have helped me reach the best state of shape that day yes, I dreamed of a path without problems and for the first time in my life this was about to happen but now I find myself lying in a bed with a thousand doubts and questions”.
Finally, a promise, “only one thing echoes in my head and gives me strength: if no one has ever succeeded before there must be a reason! No one in history has ever fulfilled the dream of winning two gold medals in this damned sport and I swear to you that, despite this stop, I will continue to do everything I can to be the first to succeed. It won’t be easy, I know but objectively I ask myself: what has been easy in my career?!?! I swear it doesn’t end here”.
Tamberi is the reigning Olympic champion in the high jump. In 2016, at the Diamond League meeting in Monte Carlo, after having cleared the new Italian record of 2.39, ‘Gimbo’ injured the ligament in his left ankle which forced him to give up the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.