Boxing, Bortot has served his disqualification: back in the ring

A return that smacks of redemption and revenge: after two years of disqualification for doping, today Silvia Bortot faces Ukrainian Kateryna Drozd in six rounds in the welterweight in Padua. Surrounded by the affection of the fans, the Treviso athlete wants to leave behind her worst nightmares and look to the future with renewed enthusiasm.

Out of the blue

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Her last match dates back to 25 October 2019: she defeated the Belgian Djemilla Gontaruk on points and became the European super light champion. The party did not last long: based on a doping control carried out after the match, the presence of Igenamine was found, a substance included in the Wada list (world anti-doping agency) of substances prohibited since 2017, which can be contained in food supplements and creams . The outcome of the meeting was invalidated, the European title revoked. Out of nowhere appeared that word he never wanted to hear: disqualified. A bolt from the blue. Indeed, worse: something unimaginable, destined to revolutionize life not only from a sporting point of view. “When they communicated the positivity to that substance to me it was a real shock. Surely this is a mistake, I thought. It is not possible! Instead it went like this, due to a contamination totally unknown to me. I spent the first two to three months in total depression. I even struggled to go for a run, I had the total rejection of everything that reminded me of sporting activity. Years of sacrifices, hard work and many privations: I wanted to reach certain levels and I had succeeded, only to see everything collapsed in a single moment … I did everything to defend myself, especially with the economic possibilities I had. They had asked for 4 years of disqualification, in the end they gave 2: at least, this satisfaction. But I couldn’t enter any Coni gym; in practice, total isolation. It was really hard ”.

Get up

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Then, something clicked. Reacting after the hardest and lowest defeat, when the world collapses on you and you want to give up everything, is not taken for granted and not by everyone. Thanks to the determination and the character of a true fighter, Silvia Bortot was able to take back the reins of a life spent in training and in the ring. “Boxing taught me this: to fall and get up. Let’s say that the first lockdown ‘helped’ me, where everything was at a standstill and we were basically ‘all equal’: each person was in the same situation as me. I strengthened and strengthened the others too, because I was training other people online. So, I retreated up and started training; I’ve never stood still in these two years. ”

Passion

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The long, lightless tunnel of disqualification, the prospect of retirement, lacerating and painful thoughts knocked out thanks to a real rebirth, as unexpected as it is desired: “I’m still here, I reacted: true passions cannot be overthrown. My return to the ring wants to convey this message: you never give up, not even after two years of forced stop and after all the harm I received for free with this disqualification. I hope to be an example. I still want to prove something to myself, I get back into the game and question myself. What happened to me is not something that belongs to me, it has not happened to me: like all things that happen to you but are not yours, it is right that they are outclassed by what is truly part of you. What is mine is the ring: I feel at home in the ring, and it is something that no one can ever take away from me. I want to see this period in a positive way. After a very heavy suffering I gained this awareness, I made it my own, I found the answers to the many ‘why?’. I am happy and serene. I can’t wait to fight after so much inactivity. The disqualification ended on December 2nd, so I had little time to train with the others (before I was forbidden) and do sparring. I take it as a test, to understand where and how to get back to work “.

In Padova

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Facing so much negativity, returning to cross boxing gloves to win and reach new goals, despite everything and everyone; why not, with a pinch of irony. Silvia Bortot will enter the Padua ring accompanied by the notes of “I’m not a lady”. Not even on purpose, Loredana Bertè’s song seems to have been written for her: “one for whom the war is never over”. One who will turn 37 in a week and still has a lot of energy to spare. At the Euganeo stadium in Padua, in the Padova Ring gym in via Nereo Rocco, the boxing meeting will begin at 8.30 pm. Three pro matches, with the highlight being Bortot-Drozd.