The story of Paolo Pizzo is one for the film, tomorrow evening ‘The winning thrust’ on Rai 1

Lucky. Paolo Pizzo often uses this word to represent himself. His sporting career has something to do with it, the platform has something to do with it, and the successes he achieved as a swordsman up there. But there is also something else, an “other” that we will see tomorrow in prime time at 9.25pm ​​on Rai 1 in the film “The winning thrust”. After the summer traditionally dedicated to reruns, here is the first novelty on the schedule, the story of a long journey, where the finish line is not as important as perhaps the road to get there. Life, this is the teaching that this story seems to give us, is a continuous starting over, in some cases the battle to have the right to do it. So let’s stop for a second, just a second and read about that day, about him becoming world champion and at his home, in Catania: “I kiss the earth that gave me birth, saved me and brought me back to life and now cradles me making me win a World Cup. I kiss that earth to which I clung on the floor of my bedroom, seeking relief when I was a thirteen year old fighting against an invisible evil, which today would not have allowed me to climb to the roof of the world. I’m a lucky guy because I can tell you all this. Because I can enjoy it with my family: mum, dad, Marina, uncles. Without them I would never have been able to beat the tumor and then fight and win on platforms at every latitude.”

No rhetoric

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It is the story of Pizzo in his story written with Maurizio Nicita, journalist of the Gazzetta dello Sport, “The winning thrust”. From these pages came the idea that reached the prime time of Rai 1. Produced by Anele with the collaboration of Rai Fiction, the film was written by Marco Videtta and directed by Nicola Campiotti. Pizzo is played by Alessio Vassallo, the father is Flavio Insinna. It is a non-rhetorical story because in the end there is little that is rhetorical in a story like this. The superficial way in which we often go through life paths that seem like harmless fairy tales with a happy ending is rhetorical. But those who live it inside know that this script does not exist in everyday life. Illness, the illness experienced as a child, the conflict between nightmares and dreams in which sport gets involved by cheering for the second, is a much more complex matter. The film tries to tell this journey that does not need victory to express a message. “Even if Pizzo had been world vice champion and not champion, or simply if he hadn’t won anything, his story would have been a story to tell,” said Insinna.

Message

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Pizzo followed step by step the recovery between Sicily, especially “his” Etna, and Rome. He also thanked the Air Force, his sports group, FederScherma, Coni which gave its patronage, Coni which he has also been attending since May 2021 as a member of the executive council. “I hope to send young people a message of tenacity, what fencing has taught me: jab after jab, always believe in it and never give up. It was a fantastic adventure, one of my best victories.”