The music you're listening is "Let It Be", by The Beatles

A chat with Susanna...

by Roberta Diglio

We are in Maliseti, very close to Prato.. It's the 19th of September, and it's afternoon. The International Tournament of Prato is just finished, the gymnasts are relaxing after a hard competition day and waiting for the closing cerimony and the prize-giving.

Susanna Marchesi has been called from the Rai to be interviewed, and now she's sitting between the sportive journalist Andrea Fusco and the technical manager Marina Piazza. We haven't yet known what they had been talking about... we'll tell you as soon as we find out. Promised!

Laura and I were near the competition floor, ready to stop Susanna to ask her some questions prepared before... Susanna stands up and: "Lally, stop Susi!"

Laura says: "Hi Susanna..." Susanna interrupts her: "Hi! I'm sorry because I didn't recognize you, but, before the competition... you know!". I tell her: "You've been good, congrats!" and Susanna smiles with a happy and kind smile. Going back to Susanna's answer to Laura: to understand it, you have to know that Lally told me that, before I arrived to Maliseti, she was watching at Susanna's training. When she saw her, Laura smiled: "The Internet Page... do you know?", and Susanna smiled too, but she didn't seem to remember.

Anyway, Laura says: "We should ask you some questions...". As soon as she was starting asking our questions, some friends of Susanna's arrive, and she greets them. When she was talking with them, Laura took her a photo. Then, Susanna comes back to us, and we also took a photo with her [thanks to our friend Francesca, who had to manage my strange camera... :-)]

Laura, Susanna, Roberta

Laura asks: "Which is your favourite apparatus?". Susanna replies: "My favourite apparatus... hmmm... maybe rope.". I intervene saying: "Once I read that your favourite apparatus was clubs...". Susanna answers: "Yes, now I explain you. ONCE it was... but now I've been performing it for 5 years... every time I take my clubs in my hands...!" - and she makes a gesture like trowing out. "Of course I feel surer with clubs, but now I've a nice rope routine with an exciting music and I like it!". Laura remembers: "Ah, by the way, which is the music of your new rope routine?" Susanna says: "Ehm...! I don't know! My coach found it in a magazine!"

I ask: "What about music?" Susanna: "Music?" I: "Yes, your favourite kind of music". She answers: "Underground, disco music..." Laura says: "So, you like dancing" Susanna replies: "Yes, I like dancing, going to the disco... then, I like the Lighthouse Family"

"What about your training?", I ask. "Well, usually I trains in Follonica 6 hours a day. But during the month of November I'll go back home, in Arezzo, and I'll keep on training a few, just 2 or 3 hours...". "And what about your next aims?", Laura asks. "The 1999 Serie A that is going to start in January".

Now, Susanna is called away, and we go to the training floor where there are all the gymnasts, and we asked for some autographs. There are Valeria Vatkina (BLR), Julia Barsoukova (RUS), Olga Belova (RUS), Noemi Iezzi (ITA) and Monique Strobl (GER). Besides Susanna, of course.

Roberta, Laura, Francesca

But... we didn't greet Susanna! So, we run out searching for her. She is going away, and Laura calls her: "Susanna! We wanted to greet you..." Susanna turns and greets us with three kisses (because two kisses are bad luck, according to Lally!). "Bye bye, see you" we say, and we go away.

Well, now it's all finished! Hope you enjoyed reading this... and hope there will be other ones like this, so you can know better our Italian Champion, Susanna Marchesi!

©Laura Vigna & Roberta Diglio