The champion spoke with an open heart to the audience of the Sanremo Festival
During the third evening of the Sanremo Festival 2023 Paula Egonu had a space of its own, to tell its story without filters. Amadeus presented it like this: “Paola and I realized that for her the days before the Festival were special days. Some statements caused a sensation, even those today at the press conference. Much has been said about you, not for sport, but of your childhood, of racism. Now you can tell yourself without filters, without interference, free as you are, free as you have always been”.
No lessons
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Paola Egonu, who is only 24 years old despite being a champion known all over the world for years, made her debut: “I’m not here to give life lessons, because at my age I can learn more than I can teach”. space for interpretation. However, this did not prevent some sentences from being torn out of context, cut, pasted at random and thrown into the newspapers as headlines used to make noise. I’ve learned that every thought, once it becomes a word and is shared with someone, is no longer under the full control of the person who spoke it. This reminded me of that we should always try to trace the origin“.
Childhood
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Paola then told a little about her childhood and her his family: “I am the eldest of three siblings, and I owe everything to my mum Eunice and dad Ambrose. They are the ones who allowed me to have a happy childhood, who supported me and who taught me that if you want something you have to earn it. Without fear the sacrifices”. Of her parents, in particular, she said: “They helped me find my path, even if that meant for them to see me leave home at 13. I’m not a mother, I dream of becoming one one day, but I’m sure that no parent is happy that their daughter grows up away from her love and her gaze. Thank you mom, thank you dad, that out of love for me, you gave up on me. Sure, your caresses and your attentions I have missed and continue to miss. But I knew, we knew and I know that this is my way.”
Different and unique
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Egonu then entered the heart of her speech: “You know, as a child I was obsessed with “why”. Why am I tall? Why does my grandfather live in Nigeria? Why do they ask me if I’m Italian? Then I got older and the whys continued. Why do I feel different? Why do I experience this thing as a fault? Why have I punished myself every time by giving the wrong version of myself? Over time I realized that my diversity is my uniqueness. And that in the question ‘Why am I???’ there is already the answer: because I am me!!!”.
The racism
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The champion touched on the topic of racism with a metaphor: “Take glasses of various colors and put water in them. You will see that most people will choose the clear glass, just because its content is clearer. Yet if you try to drink from one of the colored glasses, you will discover that the water always has the same taste, fresh and alive…because we are all the same beyond appearances. And if this is still not enough… in Veneto we would say Moeghea or Come on, stop it!“. Then she continued: “I’m the one to whom sport has given so much, but I’m also the one who doesn’t believe that defeat is only when you lose a game. When I’m on the pitch and I make too many mistakes, even if we win, it can happen that I feel like a defeat. I play in attack and my goal is to be able to have in my hands the decisive ball to hit, the one that will score. Sometimes I succeed, other times I fail and I’m learning to accept the mistake. Because that hot ball, the one that’s scary, is the reason why I’m actually there “. She also took a few pebbles off her shoes:” I’m the one being criticized. Criticisms have never been lacking and will never be lacking, they are inevitable: some are constructive, most are gratuitous, others – and I don’t want to play the victim – are real boulders. I learned with difficulty that it’s up to us to give the right weight. I’m the one who, like everyone else, has had to face bad times but hasn’t stopped enjoying the good ones because of it. I have been accused of victimhood, of dramatizing and of having no respect for my country. And this for having recounted bad experiences that I have lived, for having shown my weaknesses and my fears in view of the future”.
Reckless life
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In the last part of her monologue, Paola Egonu stood up and said: “I love Italy, I wear that blue shirt with pride which for me is the most beautiful in the world and I have a profound sense of responsibility towards this country in which I place all my hopes for tomorrow. I’m the one who often missed important appointments. In my history as a player, in fact, I have lost more finals than I have won. Yet that doesn’t make me a loser. Just as those who get the lowest grade in school are not losers and those who fail to realize their dream at the first attempt are not losers. And then, since we are in Sanremo, those who arrive in the last positions in the standings are not losers either… See do you remember? It was 1983 when Vasco Rossi arrived penultimate on this stage. Another non-loser, who taught us that the greatest successes can come from the toughest defeats. Each with its own journey, each different” and he let the notes of resound in the Ariston Reckless life., a song that already during the connection with Tg1 Paola Egonu defined as her favorite in the entire history of the Sanremo Festival.
February 10, 2023 (change February 10, 2023 | 00:36)
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