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I want to go back home to mommy.
I want to do a piercing, get my driver's license,
graduate high school, celebrate.
The world final of the 200m freestyle begins,
with Federica Pellegrini in lane number four...
Now Federica Pellegrini is going stronger,
- impetuous, powerful. - Pellegrini's pace accelerates.
She's about to make yet another dream, another feat come true.
That's incredible.
Eight times in a row on the podium of the world championship, in the same race.
It will be remembered forever.
VERONA, OCTOBER 2019
How many shoes are you taking with you?
I haven't packed them yet.
If I buy another pair of shoes, there won't be any room left for me.
- Have you already finished? Really? - Yes.
I can't believe it.
I don't know if in my life I swam more laps
or closed more suitcases, but for sure...
today, leaving is not easy at all.
Are you ready?
They will be three tough weeks for you too, you struggle on high ground.
Training in the mountains is tiring...
and necessary.
I know it well, it's been almost 20 years that I train that way.
LIVIGNO OCTOBER 2019 - WINTER COLLEGIAL
As I told you, the next three weeks will be very difficult, very hard,
but all-important both for those who are training for the European championship,
and for those who are not.
I will be quite strict.
I want maximum concentration,
we are here to train.
You only have to think about swimming.
If you want to reach the objective of qualification,
which is the minimum goal for all of you,
you have to work hard.
Let's go in the water. I won't have mercy of you today.
In position.
One and three. Four and nine,
six and seven... don't start earlier.
It's since I was 15 years old that people always expect great feats from me.
If I'm still here it's because there have been great feats.
Go.
But maybe also because I feel there's still a long way to go.
I'm still hungry.
Two.
Come on.
After all, it doesn't matter what others expect from me,
but what I feel.
I do it for myself. Absolutely.
Not for other people. Just for me.
Four. Nine, nine.
If in the 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle I tell you,
"Don't breathe after the turn,"
the idea is that you train to do things well.
During training, it's needed to make it feel automatic.
If during training it's automatic to breathe before the turn,
how can you think that in the race you will do it right?
You know very well that for a hundredth of a second, you can arrive fourth.
What I'm experiencing these days it's a bit...
It's as if there's an internal struggle in me, because...
On one hand, there is the woman who wants...
to have a different life,
to have what she has always dreamed of, like children,
building something solid.
And on the other hand, there is the sportswoman who says, "Yes, but...
the fifth Olympics...
it's the fifth Olympics." There's nothing much more than that.
My life has brought me
to be much more reluctant to really open up to everyone.
I do not know if, temperamentally, I'm strange,
but when friendship is considered
as the most important value in life, I disagree.
I disagree because basically I've never had a best friend.
For me, for example,
it has always been much more important the love of a man,
than friendship per se.
I think that, apart from her family,
I am the only person who knows her so deeply.
With me, she takes off that armor
that she created over the years to defend herself
from the outside world and become a beautiful woman,
a beautiful girl. Strong, but fragile at the same time.
That's exactly what no one sees.
When she is with me, when she's at home, when it's just me and her, that's...
It's hard to describe, but that's what made me fall in love with her.
Until I started training her in September 2012,
our relationship was very limited.
2012 - LONDON XXX OLYMPICS
Lane six. Here she is, Federica Pellegrini.
Seat belts fastened in the pool, they've already turned on the jet engines.
Federica is in sixth position. There's still hope she can climb back up.
Federica Pellegrini is placed in...
After the 2012 Olympics,
she decided to completely change her training.
Matteo Giunta is a decisive guy, 32 years old, from Pesaro.
For a few weeks, he's been Federica Pellegrini's new coach.
I wasn't seen as a coach
with enough experience to be able to manage
the strongest Italian athlete of all times.
2015 - KAZAN, RUSSIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
A wonderful Federica Pellegrini.
1:55.32. It is silver medal.
It is the sixth consecutive time on a world championship podium.
This long wave of positivity, given by the silver in the world championship
immediately left room for determination,
for the desire to do something important.
Now there's the countdown for the race of the rebirth.
The Arab phoenix Federica Pellegrini in her 200m freestyle.
Federica Pellegrini starts quite well.
Federica Pellegrini is arriving at high speed.
She manages to be... She's back in second, third,
now even in first position!
Something incredible is about to happen,
something unbelievable, unthinkable.
1:54.73! Gold medal for Federica Pellegrini.
Guys, what a fairy tale. Guys, what a record.
She's the best ever.
2019 - GWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The world championship final begins.
Federica Pellegrini has managed to overcome the Australian Titmus.
Sjöström is growing a lot.
But Federica Pellegrini is still in first place.
1:54.22. The Legend of the Arab phoenix continues.
Gold medal, two years after Budapest.
She's fantastic.
It's been incredible.
The time is great and...
this means that all the work we are doing together with Matteo
pays a lot. Perhaps as never before.
I'm very happy.
Because this is my last world championship.
-Are you crying? -Not because I'm sad.
Because I'm too happy.
VERONA, DECEMBER 2019
We will leave soon, we have to take the race swimsuit.
Headphones, goggles.
We're going to Glasgow, to the European Short Course Championships,
that will serve as a test. It's the first race of the season.
Of course, I will want to do well.
I don't feel great, but that's okay.
- Bye. - You'll have fun with grandma.
Bye.
This time I Haven't cried.
You've been good. Incredible.
I'll cry tonight.
In my bed.
Just don't watch Dumbo on the plane.
No.
I've already watched Dumbo.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - DECEMBER 2019 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
We are here in Glasgow.
Of course, it's basically always night.
I'm not feeling very well.
There will be very young athletes, but I know that.
We knew it, because they are getting younger and younger
as I get older. But I don't care,
it's nothing new to me.
PRE-RACE WARM UP
-Fede? -Uh?
You made it...
I'm struggling.
Why? Huh?
- Uh? - Why?
I'm trying to feel good in the water.
But...
I was okay until two days ago.
No, if you start thinking like that,
you won't get anything good out of it. It's the first race you do, don't worry.
Today I really...
I feel like shit.
Yes, I understand. But why do you feel you're not swimming well?
Representing Italy...
Federica Pellegrini.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
Soon I will enter the water for my 200m freestyle.
My routine before a race it's always the same.
I isolate myself inside a bubble.
I need to be alone and stay focused.
I try not to hear all the noises, all the confusion that exists before a race,
all the chatter, the looks.
It's just me, Matteo and my lane, in this case.
A very focused Federica Pellegrini
in the moment she's entered the pool.
An incredible race, with Federica Pellegrini
who now considerably increases her speed.
Federica Pellegrini is in front. Watch out for lane number six,
because Anderson comes in fast like an arrow.
You also need to arrive second. A tenth of a second is really nothing.
She arrived a bit long, but what do you want to do with it?
It is how it is.
I really haven't seen her.
Not... I mean...
You haven't seen her because you were breathing on the other side.
-But... -You're pissed off.
I'm not, I'm...
No. I'm telling you...
You can't-- I know that you have given your best,
but you can't be so hard on yourself for a fucking European championship.
- That's what I mean. - I threw up before the race.
I wasn't feeling well.
Can I remove the strap?
I am calm, you're the one who's pissed.
No, but I feel you're not being objective.
I am crazy, but not that much.
In the water, I'm alone. But as soon as I go out, I know that Matteo is there.
For better or for worse, whatever happens,
he is the first person with whom I share the post-race impressions,
the joy of successes, the anger
or the disappointment for the defeats, of course.
Even those that hurt me the most.
Federica Pellegrini, immediately present.
She who will be among the more awaited and busier protagonists.
To bring back home a medal in Rio, 12 years after
her first Olympic medal in 2004,
it was something beautiful.
Fede was fine, physically ready and the muscles were reacting well.
Mentally, she was full of confidence and she couldn't wait to be put to the test.
Federica was doing things during training...
that I had never seen her do.
It meant coming home with a medal.
And, probably, a nice and heavy medal.
A big show for this 200m freestyle final
at the Rio 2016 Olympics,
where Federica is looking for a medal.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
Another medal for being a goddess
in the legend of swimming and of the 200m freestyle.
Olympic final of the 200m freestyle.
Federica Pellegrini in lane number three.
There is the desperate comeback attempt by Federica Pellegrini
on the edge of the third position, now occupied by Emma McKeon.
You see that she's not swimming as usual,
you see that she is not reacting as you would have liked.
And you understand that something is not working.
You say, "Now she will come back."
So, you hope for it until the last second,
until the touch, until you look up at the board
and you see that unfortunately...
Every one of your negative thoughts becomes reality.
Federica Pellegrini is fourth. 1:55.18 for the Italian athlete.
Off the podium.
Too bad. Too bad indeed.
My first thought definitely went to Federica.
I said, "I dare not imagine what she's thinking right now."
I wished I could lift her mood in some way.
She didn't deserve to finish with a fourth place at the Olympics.
After Rio I could actually stop swimming,
after that fourth place.
For a tenth of a second. I thought about it seriously.
RICCIONE, DECEMBER 2019 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
I didn't give up.
Three years have passed, we are here in Riccione
and... we are here to to try and get another pass
for another Olympics. It would be the fifth.
It all depends on the time, actually.
Everything has always depended on time.
A truly precise time limit
which, of course, would take me to Tokyo if I swim faster than that.
If I go slower, I'll have another chance in March.
My relationship with time has always been a very good relationship,
in the sense that I have always considered it as the only supreme judge...
that can definitely be an enemy or a friend.
But it is an objective concept, that's not forgiving,
or charitable, without any excuse.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
Federica Pellegrini!
Go, Fede!
1:55.04 is the time it takes to go to the Olympics.
The time for the Olympics is not arriving now.
Swimming like this, at this stage of the season,
she can be more than satisfied.
Racing like this, alone...
I'm not saying you would get a second less. But in the end, in the last part,
even if you die, when you have to fight against someone,
you have more energy, got it?
I'm tired inside.
I don't want to put on a swimsuit anymore, to get the adrenaline pumping, everything.
Sometimes, winning is not enough.
I wasn't fast enough, we knew that...
in December, it would have been very difficult to swim that time.
It's all postponed until next spring, to the next Italian Championships.
We have four months of really intense training ahead of us.
But for my family, there is no hurry.
They are waiting for me as they actually have always done
since the first races.
Well, she has always shown to have... quite a temper.
She has always been a free little girl, but you could see that...
she wanted her own space.
At the swimming course, at the beginning the instructor told me...
"This little girl doesn't want to put her head under the water,
I don't know what to do anymore."
But soon after that, she became friends with other girls
who attended the course and it all started.
And she no longer came out of the water.
Look at Federica Pellegrini, the young rising talent.
The athlete who has the most interesting potential.
LIVORNO, MARCH 2004
- Impressive performance. - It's an Italian record, 54:40!
54:40. That is perhaps the only time that I remember really well.
In the 100m freestyle, on that day, she had been the fastest in the world.
And she was 15 years old.
It's a time worth an Olympic final.
It meant Olympics.
You understand that your child is going to the Olympics
when the bag with the five circles arrives.
Tracksuit of Italy, uniform of Italy.
Something we never thought could happen.
Instead, we have a daughter who was going to the Olympics.
Hi.
This is our room.
OLYMPIC VILLAGE ATHENS, 2004
Nemo. Lion.
We went to get this camera, because we wanted to record the races,
a little bit of everything.
So, I'll show you. This is the bed of my beast with her lions.
Her brother.
2004, ATHENS XXVIII OLYMPICS
Tickets in hand.
ATHENS, AUGUST 2004
She had made one of the best world times on the 100m freestyle.
So we took the race package for the 100m freestyle.
Look at Pellegrini.
He pulled out the flag.
Here we go. I'll see my Fede soon!
At Athens 2004, my first Olympics,
I unexpectedly win the silver medal in the 200m freestyle,
because I had qualified for the 100m freestyle.
So actually, my parents arrived the day after the medal
to see me in the 100m freestyle.
Fede!
SPINEA THE DAY BEFORE
Hello! Thank you!
We wanted to do something soft, but our friends arrived
with posters, balloons...
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
Now is the moment of truth.
Federica's passage in the lead, 1:28.20.
And she throws herself towards the possible gold medal.
1:58.22. Silver medal in this Olympics.
What a lovely hug.
In the end, I hugged the television
and I gave a kiss to Fede who was being interviewed.
What could you tell him? Just "Thank you."
You're making Novella Calligaris excited too.
- What can I do? - It's beautiful.
Olympic medal at 16 years and 11 days old.
Then, we went to pick up Federica at the airport
and there we realized that there was ta lot of people,
because there were a lot of local TVs,
there was Rai, there were friends, relatives...
And then, Federica arrived.
It was really nice.
I had goosebumps.
VERONA, JANUARY 2020
Today is January 6, the Epiphany.
There are exactly 200 days left until the Tokyo Olympics.
And I honestly can't help but think about it.
Considering the period, considering what has been done,
I've seen good things from you.
I don't want you to set yourself goals that are out of your reach.
In March, from the 17th to the 21st, there will be the qualifying championships
for the Olympics.
When you take things with a little more lightness,
it's better.
I'm sorry for you, but today I won't have mercy.
The fact that I don't want to disappoint,
the fact of wanting to close in a way that satisfies me...
And for me, satisfying means that it has to go well.
The other thing that worries me
is that now, on January 25, we will leave
for an American collegiate and I'll be away for five weeks.
In fact, I'm already thinking of how I can be without Vanessa for that long.
And how Vanessa will be without me.
And this thing makes me feel bad, because...
because five weeks is a lot
and I'm afraid she will miss me.
Let's go, come on, let's go.
Come on.
Fuck.
I've prepared Dumbo, White Fang...
Then I've prepared Lilo & Stitch,
and then, that of the dog that crosses America, to find his owner and dies.
And I'll make you watch them all.
All with Polish subtitles. So you'll also learn Polish.
FEBRUARY 2020 - WINTER COLLEGIATE
Fede has a problem to her shoulder.
It honestly worries me a bit,
because something is missing. A 100% physical condition is missing.
Flagstaff is a situation that must be managed in the best way possible.
She has to recover the shoulder from the physical point of view,
and then arrive to the last part of the season
with an impeccable physical condition.
Let's see.
So... the Olympics are not in six or seven months for everyone,
but only for those who qualify.
For those who don't qualify, they don't exist.
Work well now, qualify and then we talk about it.
I want to see maximum commitment.
Let's go, guys! Let's go!
During every workout, I swim at least for six kilometers.
Every 50 meters, I do about thirty strokes.
This means that, during every workout, my shoulders rotate 3600 times.
About 30,000 times every week.
120,000 every month.
And I've been training for almost 20 years.
Let's measure Fede's lactate.
Measuring lactic acid, lactate,
so the salt that comes from production in the absence of oxygen,
makes you understand when you go in the absence of oxygen
and when the body manages to recover
that so-called "waste" product,
which instead is reused to produce energy.
In the past,
Federica suffered from a form of asthma
confirmed by the tests.
Bronchoconstriction and having "shortness of breath"
are common problems for all swimmers,
because coming in contact with chlorine and moisture,
the respiratory tract is constantly stimulated
and they all have sinusitis.
They all have chronic sinusitis that produces
an obstruction at the nasal level.
Hello, Mom. Hey. Did I tell you I've had conjunctivitis these past few days?
Yes and you also made me worry. I didn't tell you anything, but...
Why?
Because the first symptom of Coronavirus is conjunctivitis.
Oh, shit.
Now you've made me worry too.
-Yes, but... -And then?
And then, it hits the lungs.
Do you know the Olympics are at risk?
No way, Mom! Before cancelling the Olympics...
-Let's hope so. - Bye, Mom.
FEBRUARY 2020, WINTER COLLEGIATE
After three weeks of hard work on the high ground of Flagstaff,
two weeks in the sun, in the heat, outdoors, let you have
a flexible effect.
You don't lower the intensity of the workouts,
but at least, you are in a warm and pleasant environment.
Do 400m snorkel style,
then you make four 50m and a 100m for four times.
50m freestyle and 100m medley.
The freestyle series include one exercise, one smaller number,
one exercise and one swim.
Five.
Up.
Five.
Up.
7.4. Good, come on.
What's wrong?
I don't like the way I'm swimming.
My pace is...
Actually, it's not...
It's like I never get the pace right.
The first series strokes are good enough,
but in the others I'm struggling a lot.
Let's say that the double stroke...
It is closer to... to the second series one, right?
The second series. While the third is more lime a 100m.
If I'm swimming 27 plus 27, it's 54.
So what?
It sucks.
Yes, but the 100m are two 50m.
It's one, not 40 laps.
It's not 3.5 kilometers, you know?
Are you listening to me?
Ok, now you don't want to talk. Let's talk later.
I don't have the right stroke. I'm not saying my workout is shit.
I get it, but it seems like...
you've been swimming at 30 seconds a lap.
You're going well. Be happy about it.
I have to convince you that you are doing well.
Here we go!
You've pissed me off today.
Why?
- Uh? - Me? When?
This morning.
Then we were both angry.
Go, Fede!
Huh? Only one.
-Fuck! - Don't tell me.
-Uh? -Don't tell me.
22.3, this is the best 50m
of these five weeks. Get ready. Let's go home.
MARCH 2020
Growing concern for the new lung virus, the Coronavirus.
The World Health Organization
declared the pandemic state, threatening, therefore, the entire world population.
Another day with many new cases confirmed.
There have been 1,145 of them.
The total number of cases in Italy has now reached 5,061.
Italy has always been a unique area.
Italy is protected.
But now we also declare the closure of all commercial activities...
retail stores, pharmacies and para-pharmacies,
Let's keep a distance today...
to run faster tomorrow.
As long as they let me swim.
ROME, MARCH 2020
Okay welcome to this...
Are these Olympics being held?
Yes, of course.
Will you swim without water?
You had to come and see me at the races here in Italy, but...
-I can't anymore. -Closed doors.
Oh, I'm so sorry you did...
-Bummer. -I know.
But you have a bathtub at home,
-maybe you can invite her... -I don't even take a bath,
I take showers.
FEDE! YOU'RE OUR CHAMPION AND WE HOPE TO HAVE BECOME YOUR IGT FAMILY!
Anyway, I have a breaking news.
The pool in Riccione where we were supposed to do the Italian championship
for the Olympic qualifiers is now closed.
So, we don't know if they will be held,
if they will do them there, if they will be postponed,
or if they will be cancelled.
Anyway, Dad says that for now there is no news.
Let's see.
Let's watch. Hello.
Mom! There's Mom, look! Look, Mom!
Have you seen how hot she is? Huh?
Here in Italy there's a really big mess for this Coronavirus.
They are closing cities.
Let's say that 99%, the qualifications in Riccione they will not be held,
also because all Rimini and its province are a red zone.
We've been training for three months,
that I train for this. So now, not being able to do the qualification
or at least not test myself now that we are at the end of the season
it seems crazy to me.
Today's diary... What day is it?
March 9. News is that the Italian Championships,
so the qualifications for the Olympics, won't take place.
So... now we're screwed.
You're not heavy at all.
In the bedroom there's a spider web.
I'll clean that too. Come on, let's go to the bedroom.
Go, go. It's in the corner above my bedside table.
What do you see?
- Hello, potato, hello! - Hi!
On those days, you feel a bit...
Yes, there is Matteo, there is Vanessa, but...
It never happened in my career,
not even when I was younger, to not being able to train for so long.
Anyway, since I have a past as a chubby girl,
when I tend to gain a little more weight than usual,
all that nastiness I experienced in that period comes back.
I had just won the silver medal in Athens in 2004.
I moved to Milan and I was there until August 2006.
I think they were the two longest years of my life.
It was hard also because I was away from my family,
like I am now. Maybe that's why I'm sensitive right now.
Keep pushing. Even if it hurts, keep going.
Come on! Good!
11 seconds, oh!
- Is it an 11? - 11.
Alessandro suffered...
after the Olympics.
Federica came home and said, "Look, my coach
moves to Milan and I would like to follow my coach."
They shared a bedroom
and so Alessandro found himself alone.
Me too, I have to be honest.
It wasn't easy knowing that your little girl is leaving at 16.
Mario!
I had just won the silver medal in Athens,
and with this medal around my neck, I found myself catapulted into a world
that I was not ready for.
With people who drag you from pillar to post,
and you don't know why you are doing those things,
you would just like to swim, but there's the sponsor,
the percentage, this and that...
Something was wrong.
Then, we started talking about weight.
She was a girl and she was becoming a woman.
And that led her to feel uncomfortable,
until one evening, when I arrived...
Carletta took me aside and told me,
"Cinzia, we have a problem with Federica,
because she locks herself in the bathroom and begins to throw up."
I hurt myself, because...
I used to put my toothbrush in my mouth and vomit
when I ate too much, in my opinion.
I have to say it hurts me to think back at those years.
I was so mad at the world.
JULY 2005 - WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The awaited final starts. Four laps to know how it will end.
Is it silver for Federica or is it gold?
It's silver, it's 1:58.60.
Silver medal again.
We can't hide behind a finger, we were waiting for a gold.
We are with a world championship silver medalist, with Federica Pellegrini,
who wanted a podium, but wanted gold.
And she's pretty... angry?
Yes, I'm angry mainly for the feeling
I've had in the water, that's it.
I didn't even see the race, but I saw Federica swollen,
with an acne on her face like I had never seen.
She was not well. Definitely not.
- Let's leave... - Let's wait a moment.
Yes.
My intention was to change everything around me.
I changed coach, I followed Alberto Castagnetti
and everyone said to me, "No Fede,
don't do it! You don't know what person he is!
He has never trained a woman.
He won't have mercy on you, and with the shoulder problem you have..."
Federica needed protection and then Alberto arrived.
I don't want any argument, you do what I tell you and that's it.
Alberto, the most beautiful person ever.
I have to say "thank you" to Alberto. Thank you.
I think he loved Federica like a daughter.
Tell us a joke.
"Mom? Can you get pregnant at nine years old?"
"No." "Yay!"
That summer was the turning point.
It was the summer in which I tattooed the Phoenix,
which is the symbol of rebirth and it was truly my rebirth.
Goodnight!
MARCH 2007 - WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The first thing Alberto told me
when he started coaching Federica...
was, "I'll change her swim, I'll make her swim like a man."
Federica Pellegrini changed everything of her life, this last year.
She moved, she went elsewhere, she changed coach.
She trained with Alberto Castagnetti.
Pay attention to the last lap.
Federica goes on, she touches first.
- It's a world record! - World record!
Great!
A new world record.
That's to show that all changes she has made are paying off.
Alberto was like the pool God.
With Federica, he got to experience satisfactions
that he did not find with others.
And Federica, with Alberto, has obtained ten world records.
2008 - BEIJING XXIX OLYMPICS
In 2008, according to him,
Federica was the fastest in the world in the 400m,
so she had to win two medals. 400m and 200m.
400M FREESTYLE FINAL
The final of the 400m freestyle, the final of Federica Pellegrini,
the final in which Italy could get where it's never been before.
She's six tenths of a second behind. Federica must pick up the pace.
She doesn't make it. Something is not working.
So, fifth place for Federica.
That badly done 400m...
took their tool on her.
When a race has to go wrong, it goes wrong.
Federica called us and said, "Don't worry.
That was the wrong race."
Federica's phone call, "Don't worry, that was the wrong race."
It's a tough race in the middle of a pool in which it will not be easy to swim.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
This is her position before getting on the starting block.
The hope she'll keep that attitude even during the race.
She's in the front, the others are behind.
This is Federica Pellegrini's race, she has to lead.
Resist, Federica!
She has to resist! It's a gold medal, if she can!
- Is it gold medal? Gold! - Yes!
Gold!
A new world record, once again: 1:54.82.
You've finally won, Federica.
Yes, I've won!
- First gold in female swimming history. - And with a world record.
So, we put together the two things I care about the most.
She deserved it all.
- Did you expect it? - No.
So, a great satisfaction.
- Definitely, yes. - Alberto!
We let you go, because you are very moved.
ROME, ITALY JULY 2009 - WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
In Rome, ten days lived with goosebumps.
There, if one asks me, "What did you really live of swimming?"
I'd say, "Ten days in Rome."
I've never seen such a thing for swimming.
Federica already knows what she has to do.
Federica is still ahead. Go on!
A seemingly unlimited progression for Federica.
In her local water she's about to win the gold medal
and to get a historical world record!
The four-minute threshold has been demolished.
She's confirmed herself.
I cried a lot
for the races she has done, for the world records she obtained,
for the people in the stands, the cheering, the flags.
It was beautiful, really.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
27:34 for Federica.
She's started protecting herself and goes to take the lead of the race.
Now she's accelerating.
Another incredible victory. There's no match.
A lead that increases with each stroke.
Gold medal and world record for the second time.
1:52.98. She goes under 1:53.
Second gold medal.
An amazing, wonderful Federica
who turns to greet the audience.
I always say it was the most beautiful week of my life.
The emotion has been too strong, I've had to live it alone.
She has became a true world-class champion.
But it is not her chrono by right.
I think she has a chrono which may be less
of at least a couple of seconds.
And we will get to it from now till the Olympics.
Alberto had told us, even before Rome,
that after the World Championships he would go to the hospital
to have heart surgery.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I'm at work and my wife calls me.
I hear her crying and she tells me, "Alberto is dead."
Yes. If I close my eyes, I still hear Federica's scream on the phone.
The next morning we arrived in Verona.
The guys were in the pool.
The feeling, even when we entered, was that of...
of a still image.
The water was completely still.
There was no noise.
Suddenly, without anyone saying anything, the guys got up.
They put themselves on the starting blocks and they went in the water.
That's what I remember most clearly about Alberto's death.
VERONA - OCTOBER 15, 2009
Now I'm in front of everyone, without any protection,
without any reference point, for now.
Because that's what Alberto was too.
It's hard to recover from such a blow.
INSTANBUL, TURKEY - DECEMBER 2009 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
But she managed to do it greatly.
An amazing Federica Pellegrini in lane four.
It is a world record! 1:51.17.
Gold medal for Italy.
And then, there was the beautiful image of when she pointed the sky
to thank Alberto.
VERONA - MARCH 24, 2020
And the virus also stops the Olympics,
the Tokyo Olympic Games will be postponed to 2021.
It's already night, when Prime Minister Abe surrenders.
After a conference call with the Olympic Committee,
he announces to the world that the Olympic Games are postponed to 2021.
It's tough, because...
I will be 33 years old.
And another year...
I hope it doesn't change me physically.
I hope it doesn't change me mentally.
I want this fifth Olympics, but...
Heck, it will be very difficult for me.
VERONA - MAY 25, 2020
After almost three months, today gyms and swimming pools throughout Italy reopen.
Athletes will start training again
and Federica Pellegrini goes back in the water at the Swimming Centre of Verona.
Good morning.
Okay, get ready.
So, the quarantine is now over.
Today and tomorrow will be the last two easy workouts.
From Monday, we start to get serious.
Therefore, I demand maximum commitment.
Let's go.
When you swim for so long, for as long as I did,
water becomes your element.
In the weeks of quarantine I missed it very much.
34.9.
Yes, very good.
VERONA, OCTOBER 2020
Record number of infections in the last few hours in various regions of Italy.
It is still a progressive worsening of data on the trend of new infections
from Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in Italy.
And behind this rise in infections, there may be hiding the possibility
of a Christmas 2020 in full lockdown.
It happened, yes. Unfortunately, it happened to me too.
The coronavirus has not spared even who, rediscovered strokes and enthusiasm,
was ready for the International Swimming League of Budapest,
desiring a normality that, suddenly, it seems more and more distant,
like the dream of the last Olympics.
The other night I had a bad dream.
I dreamed that I was doing a race...
and I stopped, because I couldn't breathe.
It seems like everything is against me, this past year.
Third day of quarantine.
So, the night was so and so.
At 3:30am I woke up with a drilling pain in the back of my head
and with 37.7 temperature.
I took a Tachipirina and I fell back asleep.
I sweated a lot tonight.
Who is there?
Mom and Uncle who brought me the groceries!
-Oh! Thank you, Ale. -Hello.
-Here you go. -Thank you!
-Bye. -Bye.
Ninth day of quarantine. Tomorrow is Sunday,
which will be the tenth, and on Monday I'll do the nasal swab.
Swab done. Now we wait for the result.
I did it privately, I have to tell the truth,
because I need to have a quick result.
If it's negative, I know that in seven to ten hours,
tomorrow morning I'll be in the water.
Mom!
I'm negative!
NEW YEAR'S EVE 2020
Wow.
This is "New Year's Eve 2020 at home" style, right?
Five, four, three...
two, one!
Happy New Year!
FONT ROMEU, FRANCE FEBRUARY 2021, WINTER COLLEGIATE
2021. A new year.
But my life is always the same.
I am older, I had Covid,
I didn't train with the continuity that I should've had.
Meanwhile, the last chance to conquer the fifth Olympic pass
is getting closer and closer.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready.
Shall we start to see something interesting
or do we continue to have this shitty speed?
Eight and seven.
Let's close with 50m. Change of pace.
Hold on.
60 yellow, last lap.
Let's go, react!
Five...
The question already arose in 2018, so you can imagine how she feels.
"Can my body withstand a certain type of training?"
And, "An I still able to swim the 200m at high level?"
I have to see how she holds up until the Italian Championships.
Then there will be 15 or 16 weeks to the Olympics.
It's not time to worry.
No, exactly, I mean...
Today's training is very important, very difficult.
I want to see you sweat blood.
Up.
From now on,
she is training with the goal to achieve qualification
at the Riccione championships in March.
Fede, you see that you're slowly picking up the pace?
I'm not tired, but I can't do more than this.
I know.
Yes. The last one was good.
When she her period will be over,
she won't be bloated anymore...
I know.
...and her progesterone level will decrease.
-No, the thing is... I mean... -I know you know, but...
It's pointless to think about that now.
Because it won't change a thing.
Are you warm?
I feel like I was giving my all,
but my muscles were still in standby.
In the last 15m of the 100m, it's like the light was out.
APRIL 2021 - ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
So, we have just arrived in Riccione.
The qualification races for the Olympics will take place here.
So, it's a very important stage.
You have to try to be a couple of tenths of second faster in the first 50m.
Okay?
The Italian Swimming Federation welcomes you
to the Riccione Swimming Stadium.
Then, let go. It's 100m, you have to show power and speed.
100M FREESTYLE FINAL
They're ready to go up on the starting block.
Federica Pellegrini, lane number four.
And they go in, with the divine...
Well, the pace of the champion in lane four is going to be important.
There's no match for first place, the queen Federica Pellegrini,
is leading ahead. 53:86 is her time.
Tell me about it.
I've felt good until the 75m, then...
For the last few meters I've collapsed.
You did the second 25m very well.
26.0, perfect passage.
Maybe a bit too fast, considering I've collapsed at the end.
The second 25m was perfect.
Tell me.
I just don't get it.
If you want to turn a good race into a shitty race...
Don't be the guy who attacks to defend himself.
No, but...
Fede, I am not defending myself.
You're pissed too.
But you did 53.8. It's not like...
I needed the right time, Matteo. You don't get it.
I get it, so?
Matteo gets pissed off because...
Because I am always pessimist,
I am never satisfied.
While he always tries to look at the bright side.
Anyway, I didn't get the time I needed, so there's no bright side.
This continuous chase to get...
the time, the times, the races...
You take and leave, you get tested and come back,
things go wrong and you have to pull yourself up,
then things go wrong again and you have to pull yourself up again
and again and again... I'm tired.
Federica, can you hear me?
- Yes. - Fede, it's a situation...
I hadn't cried like that in a very long time.
Last night my eyes were so swollen I couldn't see a thing.
But I kept crying the whole afternoon too.
Yes, Fede. But all that tension
in the end... Of course, now you must be exhausted.
Yes.
Adaptation is your strength and it seems like you want to complicate your life,
to put yourself in the condition of having to pull out everything you have.
In Riccione, the qualifying time for the Olympics is 1:56.8.
It's been more than a year that she isn't swimming below 1:57,
so she must swim well.
I'm already fed up today. That's enough.
PRE-RACE WARM UP
You're a bit under the pace.
Your frequency is 44.
If I don't make the time today, there's no...
There's really no point in moving forward.
It doesn't make sense to me, it doesn't make sense for the path I took
in these years, it makes no sense...
for all the effort I put in this sport in all these years.
A few more seconds of patience and waiting.
Something touched the slabs.
My God, what a mess.
It's a disaster.
Things like that can't happen in an Italian Championship.
Their times are crucial, you can't take them manually.
Fuck!
Time passes and there hasn't been a reset of the timing system yet.
So, they go back again inside the call room
the finalists of the women's 200m freestyle.
She's in her own focused state of mind,
so anything that comes out of the ordinary can divert attention,
she can lose her focus.
Maybe they've sorted it out.
Back out of the call room, Federica Pellegrini,
as well as all the others athletes of the 200m freestyle final.
The fine-tuning of the timing system should be over.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
The time to go to Tokyo is 1:56.9.
Here she is! This expresses all her satisfaction.
Federica is emotional today.
We haven't seen you so excited at an Italian championship in a long time.
I'm sorry, it's just that...
These past few months have not been easy.
So much anger yesterday for that tenth of a second, because I said...
I could've done it yesterday and take this "weight" off my shoulders.
Instead, I've done it today and maybe it's even better,
because it's in my race, so...
Hey, you have the time. You are officially qualified.
Okay, so I won't stop swimming, then.
We're going to Tokyo!
TOKYO 2020 XXXII OLYMPICS
24 hours to the opening ceremony,
that will be without an audience, only television.
The Olympic village in Tokyo is like a fortress,
only accredited athletes can enter, vaccinated with two doses
and who have done the quarantine, serological testing and swabs.
But the stadium will be almost empty.
With only just about 950 people, mostly officials and journalists,
watching from the stands.
I'll show you our room.
The living room.
The walls are...
in plasterboard, if not...
Everything can be disassembled.
The bathroom.
Mini, but the toilet is super and it is heated too.
There is no shelf, nothing.
And the beds are made...
of cardboard!
Now, let's move on to swimming.
There are four heats.
Ledecky is in the second one,
Faith is in the third one and Titmus is in the first one.
Federica Pellegrini on the starting block.
The quick passage we saw before, with Oleksiak at a slower pace.
There's the athlete who beat her at the recent European Championships, Seemanova.
There is Siobhan Haughey in lane five, who swam in 1:54
solo in Hong Kong.
She has a bit of difficulty at the exit of turn.
She doesn't push well, she doesn't collect the thrust from the wall well
with the higher leg, Federica Pellegrini.
56:73 is Federica's time in the middle of the race, fourth position.
It's a difficult path, loaded with fatigue and sacrifices,
that has led her here.
Come on, Fede.
Now, though, it's time to push a little more.
Go!
Go, Fede!
Federica slipped in fourth, now even in fifth position.
It's a slower heat compared to the previous one.
Federica's time is 1:57.33, fifth position.
If I have to say, there's been many imperfections...
No. Is she out?
...at risk of elimination.
She's already in tenth position, a bit too slow.
Perhaps, she overestimated her position and her chronometric feedback.
I believe, I think and I hope, above all,
that Federica Pellegrini's journey won't end here.
In the next heat there are eight athletes,
who should basically all go faster than her.
Federica Pellegrini should be qualified, even if just barely.
We are waiting for the official times, then we'll go to the mixed zone
to listen to her interview.
She should be inside...
Yes, she's in with the fifteenth and second to last time.
It seemed to me to be much more tired
than I actually was.
So I'm in in the nick of time, we can say that.
Now, for sure tomorrow morning I need to change pace
and fight from a side lane for the final.
- She's risked it, though. - Yes.
This morning's race will be my final.
It's a semi-final, but it will in fact be my final.
I will start from a side lane, a lane where I have never swam,
but that doesn't worry me.
I absolutely want to give myself a good race.
To fight until the end, with everything I've got
to try and enter in that fifth final.
The final window remains open for Federica Pellegrini.
We are all holding our breath
for the entrance on the pool floor by Federica Pellegrini.
Here she is.
Federica Pellegrini, lane number eight, climbs on the starting block.
It takes the attitude of the champion.
Federica tries to give everything she has.
Yes, go, damnit!
Federica Pellegrini improves compared to yesterday.
She should be in the final. I want to wait for the official timings
before giving the news, because the calculation of the hundredth of seconds
and of the tenths is never easy
when the athletes are all so close.
Yes! Federica Pellegrini is in!
It is the fifth individual final and a woman's first time
in the history of swimming worldwide.
Once again, Federica Pellegrini.
- Have you seen? She's crying. - Yes, great.
I'm happy.
I'm happy, because...
she has a life ahead of her.
She hasn't lived it yet.
Now, it'll just be fun.
I'm really overjoyed to be there.
To race my last 200m freestyle...
At the Olympics.
It's all very nice.
On the last 15m, I wondered,
"Are you happy?" And I answered yes.
A strange thing happened, as I walked back from the canteen.
One thing I didn't realize until now.
I realized that it will be my last race.
200M FREESTYLE FINAL
Federica Pellegrini!
Now is the time to make history, the last race in the 200m freestyle
at the Olympics for Federica Pellegrini.
It was beautiful. 200 meters I've raced smiling.
I've felt an inner peace that's difficult to describe.
It was a 20-year long journey, yes.
In those 200m, there were 20 years of swimming,
20 years of strokes, of kilometers,
of fatigue, of blood, of sweat.
I maybe only missed my family,
but my family is always there.
It was all nice, everything...
almost difficult to explain.
A feeling of indescribable inner lightness.
It's as if I understood
to be in the right place at the right time.
It was nice, really...
I end at peace with myself.
JULY 28, 2021 FEDERICA BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE SWIMMER
IN THE WORLD TO RACE 5 OLYMPIC FINALS IN THE SAME SPECIALTY.
HER WORLD RECORD IN THE 200M FREESTYLE STILL HASN'T BEEN BEATEN.