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For Vanessa Ferrari, taking part in her fifth - and last - Olympics would be ‘wonderful’: “It would close a career in the way I have set for myself,” the Italian gymnastics veteran recently admitted in an exclusive interview.
However, she doesn't want to make it an obsession: “I want to be competitive. I am the first to say that if I am not in the right form, I do not want to go,” she added.
The 'Orzinuovi’s butterfly', who finished just off the podium both in London and Rio, finally managed to get her hands on a coveted Olympic medal three years ago in Tokyo, by capturing silver in the floor event: “After Tokyo 2020, it was very, very difficult for me to find inspiration, the desire to get back into it. With time, however, I found the desire to try again.”
At 33 years old, Ferrari is ready to call it a career but first she wants to prove herself once again and attempt to make the team for Paris 2024: “I think that this challenge to make it to Paris is much more difficult compared to all the others, but simple things have never happened to me!”
Below you can read the full interview with the second-oldest woman to win an Olympic medal in the sport in the past 50 years.
Olympics.com: In the past 18 years, you have written the history of Italian gymnastics, and yet here you are today, alongside many young girls who may have started by watching your victories on TV: how does it feel to be a source of inspiration for them?
For me, it's incredibly important to be able to convey my passion for gymnastics and to make them understand the importance of finding inner strength, of always overcoming obstacles and moving forward. Whether for better or for worse, hard work pays off. You can't always have everything you want, but being content knowing you've done everything you can, I believe, is very important and eventually brings satisfaction.
Olympics.com: Since the announcement made some time ago on social media, setting Paris 2024 as your goal, how is the journey progressing?
With or without my fifth Olympics, Paris will mark the end of my career. It's been a career of highs and lows, victories and disappointments, injuries, having to start over often from scratch, and then often coming back stronger than before; it's been a very fluctuating career.
Gymnastics demands everything and immediately from a very young age, it's a very wearing sport, which hasn't allowed me to always stay stable, but my character has allowed me to have such a long career because I was never fully satisfied. I always wanted more, so maybe thanks to this, I managed to keep going for so long.
After Tokyo, it was very, very difficult to find inspiration, the desire to get back into it, because I felt fulfilled by everything. I had won medals in every type of competition; only an Olympic medal was missing. I came so close to a medal in two consecutive editions. Seeing one of my dreams come true would have been the icing on the cake, which would have perfectly closed my career. With time, however, I found the desire to try again. Because I know that if I have - I am not saying a good - but a decent level in terms of energy and physical condition, I can still have my say and contribute to the team.
This is my goal, to try to get back in shape. This year is very difficult for me, but until the last moment, you don't know what will happen, how I will be, and how others will be. I give myself time until the end, and whatever comes, comes. Regardless, I am happy because I could have given up, but I didn't. And Tokyo, no one can take that away from me.
"Regardless, I am happy because I could have given up, but I didn't. And Tokyo, no one can take that away from me." - Vanessa Ferrari
Olympics.com: What motivates you now, more than anything else?
To prove to myself that despite everything, if I decide that I want to be there, I can do it. Unexpected events may occur, but feeling that way and knowing that if I want it, I can make it, still satisfies me, and I think it can also convey a very important message to the other girls. The wonderful thing is that the level of gymnastics is rising, thanks also to new technologies, more comfortable equipment, and training methods; it's easier to teach more difficult things. But longevity is also increasing; before, athletes retired at 16, 17, or 18, now I'm training with girls I've seen grow up, and they're also at their second Olympic experience. Once you would have one, and that's a good thing because it allows athletes, especially in gymnastics, to have a longer career and reinvent themselves over time. Some may peak early, as I did, and then have a moment of stagnation and injuries. You have to give time to time; some are strong immediately, and some later on; we're all different.
Olympics.com: How intriguing would it be to go to the Olympic Games for the fifth time?
For me, participating in the fifth Olympics would be wonderful because it would close a career the way I set out to do it. I would like to get there, but in a certain way. I want to be competitive if I'm going to be there, and I'm the first to say that if I'm not in shape to go, it's right that someone else goes if they're more competitive than me at that time. If I deserve to go, I want to be there because I know I can do something both for myself and for the team.
Olympics.com: How different would Paris 2024 be after having won an Olympic medal?
It's different, but it's also the same. Each Olympics is unique; every qualification to access the finals is a competition with tension at its peak, always. And you don't feel it as strongly at the Europeans or the Worlds because they happen every year, if it doesn't go well next year, you try again. The Olympics aren't like that. I've waited four years, then another five between Rio and Tokyo... it raises the tension a lot, and being able to do the right things satisfies you, even if it's not the moment they give out the medals. In Tokyo, I managed to fulfill my dream, but I barely made it to the last competition because I really had a lot of pain in my tendons.
Olympics.com: The many physical problems that have hindered you during your career, how can they affect your latest Olympic challenge?
I think this challenge to reach Paris is much more difficult than the others for various reasons: I'm older, I'm carrying with me the physical problems I've had in the past, to find motivation I've done maintenance workouts, but I've been away from gymnastics for quite some time, I trained and then maybe got injured. I haven't been able to have great stability in this last period. The desire is there, but my body is holding me back with the timing. I want to start again, but I know that if I start at full throttle, I might compromise something. I have to be good at managing everything, it's very difficult, but simple things have never happened to me. I go my way, I see what happens, and I'll be happy regardless, because I've put all of myself into it and I will have tried for the fifth time.
Olympics.com: In light of all these difficulties, what is your relationship with your body at this point in your career?
The relationship with the body is a bit like that... I'm sorry to have had so many physical problems in my career, I think without them, I could have done much more than I have. But, in the end, I did the impossible, what I never expected when I started. It's fine like this, I know the potential I have and I've had, that was the path: it could have gone better, but it could have gone worse.
Olympics.com: What is the best moment of your career to date?
If I have to think about the victories I've had, the first one at the World Championships in Aarhus. Then the one with the Olympic medal in Tokyo, where I fulfilled my other dream. Of course, there have also been moments when I felt very good, like when they nicknamed me the Cannibal at the Mediterranean Games in 2005, because I won five golds and one silver, but I wanted six golds. That was a moment when I felt indestructible, a tractor could have run over me and it would have gotten hurt (laughs).
Olympics.com: There's certainly no shortage of nicknames you've been given in your career... have any others come up?
The Lioness because I'm from the area of Brescia, the Phoenix, the Butterfly... use whichever you want. I don't know which one I identify with the most, the Butterfly I associate because [Vanessa] is actually the name of a butterfly, then there's been something about each one throughout my career.
Olympics.com: Of course, you describe the Olympic medal from Tokyo 2020 as a dream you managed to fulfill: did you ever think it could have been something more?
I thought that just like in London 2012, where I deserved the bronze, in Tokyo the gold could have been within reach too. She [Jade Carey] had a slightly stronger acrobatic move, she did well, so did I... so let's say the thought was definitely there, but I was thrilled with the silver, and that's perfectly fine. I'll have to try for Paris and see what comes out of it.
Olympics.com: Well, then the goal is quite ambitious...
The goal is always to aim very high, then whatever comes, comes. I think trying to always raise the bar and aim higher and higher is crucial.
Olympics.com: In the gym with you, there are girls of 16, 18, or 20 years old: what do you think you can give them and what do you think you can take from them?
I struggle to realise that I'm much older, and when I train like this, I think I can do it too when they push so well, but I need longer recovery times. I hope to convey the desire to always move forward, to fight against disappointments and injuries, but of course, you have to be careful to manage your own problems and understand when it's time to push or hit the brakes.
Olympics.com: Is there anything that has struck you in recent years in terms of how training methods in gymnastics have changed?
We're improving in terms of management, as it should be; each figure is in its place. Once the coach did a bit of everything, but not anymore: nutritionists, doctors, and trainers do their job as a team, and this pays off; I think it's the right thing to do.
"I want to start again, but I know that if I start at full throttle, I might compromise something. I have to be good at managing everything; it's very difficult, but simple things have never happened to me." - Vanessa Ferrari
Olympics.com: For Paris, how do you assess the chances of the current Italian team?
I'm not looking much beyond, I'm trying to focus on myself to recover everything. Making predictions with so much time until the Olympics [The interview took place on 20 March 2024], I think it's premature; it's a sport where you can get hurt just before leaving, you can get hurt there, everything can go well, you never know. The only right thing is to train as best as possible, at maximum effort, trying to do a little more in each training session. Then it's fair that the strongest team goes.
Olympics.com: If a medal were to come at the end of your fifth Olympic cycle, how would you feel?
If another medal were to come, I would be thrilled because after trying for so long, two in a row would be amazing. I've already started laying the groundwork for a future in other roles between Tokyo and now, and certainly, it would be fulfilling my dream to close my career not only with the Olympics but with a medal. It would be wonderful.
Olympics.com: And in what other roles will we see you?
I have a general idea of what I would like to do; I've started a sportswear brand with my name, a bit more geared towards gymnastics. Then I do camps in the summer with kids from six to 23 years old, and I'm part of the army that has supported me from 2009 until now. We'll also see in the future what can be done and what the federation will propose to me.
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