International Canoe Federation

The national anthem rang through the auditorium filled with students from 15 schools in the province and the Associations of Boys with Disability, who all came to listen and learn from slalom’s K1 specialist Daniele Molmenti (ITA). The golden boy fittingly wore the Olympic gold medal he had won in London.

The event, organized by New Athletic from Friuli, with the support and cooperation of numerous public and private establishments, has received acclaim from many top officials including the mayor of Udine, Furio Honsell, the Regional Minister Elio De Anna, Adriano Biasutti Office of Physical Education and head teacher Roberta Bellina, who stressed the importance of creating initiatives within the school system to spread the values of integration, solidarity and social culture.

Molmenti, renowned for his charisma, was received with rapturous applauses as he gave he spoke about his experience as a man and then as an athlete, and of course about the gold medal he won at the recent Olympic Games in London. His achievement was very well documented in the media, and it meant a lot to him because even if the sport of canoe slalom is a spectacular discipline, it is not very well known.

He also answered questions from some students and athletes such as regional star Luca Toso, high jump champion, and Deborah Vicenzotti and Sara De Biase Delser of Udine.

"Sport involves sacrifices, but everyone makes their own choices in life and decides which goals to pursue. The important thing is to know what you are doing and why,” said Molmenti, who is also a two time world champion in the Men’s K1 event. “The results can be achieved with perseverance, commitment, and even a bit of luck."

His advice to all was to" get going ", not to sit back and let life flow, but to apply the philosophy of sport in everyday life, build on their experiences and use sport an element of training and a vehicle capable of enhancing the richness and the diversity of life.

"I went climbing with people who are blind, I went in a canoe with people with physical disabilities and in the end I concluded that the so-called disabled, have much to teach us," concluded an insightful Molmenti.