Nordic Skiingthe interview
On the day of a special birthday such as that of the Como journalist, we called the Olympian and myth of cross-country skiing. "Not only tennis, Gianni followed us constantly. And in Grenoble ...".
Friday 24 July 2020 5 minutes reading time
It is the story of a special relationship, like those that consolidated much more easily in those days. The times when a great journalist like Gianni Clerici followed the most varied disciplines with the same skill and passion, from "his" tennis to cross-country skiing where, in the wonderful 1960s, he met Franco Nones.
Today is the day of the ninetieth birthday of Clerici, a sublime journalist who was told by the Olympian of Grenoble 1968. We had a nice chat with Franco Nones to reopen the book of memories and his friendship with the Como “scribe”, cemented by that extraordinary triumph in the 30 km at the Olympic Games in the French Alps; the Fiemmese cross-country skier, on February 7, 1968, was embraced after his arrival and also brought to triumph by Clerici himself, on the day when Nones signed one of the largest companies in the history of narrow skis, with the first Italian Olympic gold in skiing after all, the first non-Scandinavian to do it and, as he kept us remembering, "also the first gold in the history of the Yellow Flames at the Olympics".
“Gianni is a true all-round journalist, able to extricate himself in every sport. Simply exceptional not only in his work, but a real fun outside the races. " Like the time when, returning from a trip to follow the Alpine Ski World Cup in Kitzbuehel, Clerici showed up at 6 in the morning at Nones's house ... "He rang the bell and asked me to warm up a bowl of tripe, which I don't really know where he found it. In short, in the end we found ourselves having breakfast together. Gianni, among other things, has always been a great friend of my Swedish coach, Bengt Herman Nilsson: often they played tennis together and once he even brought me on the court to Merano, as well as giving me a splendid wooden racket ".
And then the legendary 500 Mickey Mouse with which Clerici traveled to Wimbledon, to play the legendary London tournament in 1953; the same car with which Nones followed, since the pre-season retreats. “Gianni has always been number 1 in tennis, his world, and it was very particular that he followed us cross-country skiers with great passion. He was with us since the autumn trip to Sweden, also because we had a coach like Vittorio Strumolo who had the great ability to act as manager and involve journalists. The relationships that were created were a consequence of the many weeks spent together and in Grenoble, considering that on that day there were also tests of the descent to Albertville, Gianni was one of the few at the arrival of that opening race in which I won the ''gold. It was clearly a very emotional moment, both for me and for him. "
More than half a century later, it still happens to feel: “It has come to a couple of meetings with us veterans of the cross country and it has always been a pleasure to hear it, even if we haven't seen each other for some time. I just hope he can enjoy these 90 years as he deserves ”.
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