RING-A-RING O'DOVES

The Olympic Champion Carlo Molfetta instructing more than a hundred children: <<You can do anything you like. If your master says so>>.
Then apparently it is freedom and discipline that make you a champ. And a pinch of humor, I guess.

Carlo Molfetta kicking the gigantic Liu Xiaobo (China) at London 2012 (photo twitter.com/taekwondofita)

BY FUCKING SUPERIORITY

It's been 11 years since my last fight. Preliminary round of a minor international tournament. I lost. Badly, against the guy who eventually got the Gold. That was my comeback fight after a very long stop. 3 years earlier I was supposed to bid my farewell to TKD because my back simply could not stand it anymore. So the mere fact I was treading the tatami again should feel like victory nonetheless. It didn't. Because a 5-0 defeat is defeat no matter the way you look at it. That said, I retained some pride for being still a fighter no matter what. In those days, the upper side of my head gear showed a quote I had taken the effort to paint together with my nickname from ever since I was a little boy. The quote read <<Rage, courage and tenacity against ill luck>>. I still was little more than a teenager, so I couldn't help being largely pathetic in the way I emotionally lived my sport.
Back to my tournament, the guy's victory was a sharp example of how life's promises of success can turn into the most vile lies, because a few months later he would die in a car accident. In the meantime, my long awaited comeback turned out to be a lie as well, as my joints would soon conspire to put a quick end to that illusive parenthesis. However, this marked the beginning of my career in Poomsae. Not necessarily a happy one, but at least a totally different story. Yeah stories. Not fairy tales. Painful stories; moving stories; very long stories; unbelievable stories. True sport is a huge compendium of these. And no fairy-tale is Carlo Molfetta's bio. Not everybody knows this wasn't his first Olympic participation. 8 years ago he was in Athens. He was a beast, maybe the best already. But in the preliminary round, Fate made him cross his path with a true legend in the making: Hadi Saei from Iran, then Gold Medallist in both Athens (-68Kg) and Beijing (-80Kg). Carlo underestimated his opponent and went down.
Later on, a 4 years wait would not be a sufficient punishment, as in 2008 Carlo's clinical ordeal had already begun. His knees underwent 4 distinct surgeries, keeping him far away from China. So, 3 more years had to pass before he could start a new adventure from scratch. But then again, his race to London began with a false start. He was immediately defeated 10-11 by the surprisingly on fire Gadzhi Umarov (RUS) at the first 2011 Qualification Olympic Tournament, the transparency of which was affected by the lack of electronic body protectors. Continental Qualifications told a totally different story, and Carlo easily stormed through the tournament gaining his pass for London. At the end of the day, he was wearing a T-shirt reading <<Sorry for being late>>. The rest, you already know, it's been a spectacular, breathtaking Olympic Tournament conquered in that August 11 that my Facebook status had already called "Molfetta's Day" the night before.
Since then, I've gone through the whole final match a dozen times, each time equally suffering and rejoicing. But the one thing that keeps giving me the shivers even when I'm not watching the fight, is the epic word that closed the match by judges' decision. Winner by SUPERIORITY. You see, it was no single hit; no lucky kick, not the score, not a barren digit to give him the Gold. He got it because he'd been <<superior>>. To his opponent, yeah, but the echoe of this word is too strong to be restricted to this. Carlo's been superior to every obstacle a lifelong road had put against him, triumphing only at the very end of it. So my mind cannot but going back to both my old helmet and those childish words I wrote with unsteady hand more than 15 years ago. Because what at the end of the road was but a crown of thorns to me, now it's telling the story of a true king.

(Headline photo: edited official Olympic broadcasting photogram)

CARLO MOLFETTA: BOLTING PUREBRED

If there is one athlete I think of when I hear the word 'horsepower', that is the +80Kg Olympic Gold Medallist Carlo Molfetta, from Italy. Although he likes being nicknamed The Wolf (disguised under a peaceful grandma-like temper), the sheer power of his kicking sequences reminds me of a wild horse bolting. However, Carlo is no mindless beast at all. Some of his best kicks are actually strokes of genius, like the 360 delayed reach-on bandal chagi that put the Chinese opponent to "Sudden Death" in the quarter final round.
This combination of raw power and creativity makes up for the ultimate Taekwondo fighter. You never know what bizarre combination or feigned kick he can pull out, also being strong-minded enough to wait until the very right time. 183 cm tall against 2 meter giants, his incredible reach and meticulous tactics compensate for his relatively small size. If you're a faint of heart, though, you should avoid his matches. Whether he scores the critical Golden Point or wins by Superiority after the 4th round, he loves to keep you preying until the last moment and over. Victory for him is like the finest woman; he cannot just take her, he must court her until she finally falls. In love... or to the ground.

(Pre-editing photos: twitter.com/taekwondofita)

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK BELT OPS

Making us proud in the process.

(Pre-editing photo: repubblica.it)