World swimming championships, Pilate and the menstrual cycle: “It is not taboo, it affects the competitions”

Benedetta Pilato does not hide and while between morning and evening she builds the final of the 50s with the best time to guarantee her beloved lane number four, the one that goes to the best (in this case also world record holder), she also talks about something else. Menstrual cycle. An exclusively female issue, which in the race can determine a result. At these levels, then. It had happened in the past with Federica Pellegrini, who found herself during the Rio 2016 Olympic final (she finished fourth by two tenths), not to mention during the 2005 World Championships in Montreal which cost her gold in the 200 sl because of “that problem “, as Benny calls it now, forced to experience it right in the middle of the World Cup.

Conditioning

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“I was in the precycle before the 100 breaststroke and I didn’t have a great time even though I won gold. This problem affects us at a minimum, we are women”. The seventeen-year-old woman from Taranto doesn’t have any problems telling her situation: “I’m very open, it’s not a taboo for me. I talk about it with everyone, it certainly destabilizes a bit. find a balance that doesn’t exist for someone like me … maybe someone finds this balance “.

Gold bis

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Benny goes for the gold bis: a double that only Federica Pellegrini has achieved in Italian history (twice in 2009 in Rome with world records and 2011 in Shanghai) in the 200 and 400 sl. “I would like to win, but the medal is there too. Nasty? A little bit you have to be competitive if you play sports. We hope to do well. The important thing is to put your hand in front. Lilly King gold outgoing and eighth? We’ll see tomorrow. The record. of the world is still mine though. Melutyte? She has always been a point of reference, being the idol of Vito D’Onghia, my coach. I thought she was rooting for her … In fact we met and she said: ask her the photo, ask her for the photo. I arrived calmly with the knowledge that I cannot enter the water and improve every time, above all to improve a world record (29 “20, ed) which is not an easy thing. It is important to give your best, especially with your head. In the morning I will be able to rest. “Also because there is that problem …