- Title: ITALY: Iron-willed gymnast Vanessa Ferrari gears up for Olympics
- Date: 3rd April 2008
- Summary: BRESCIA, ITALY (RECENT - MARCH 18, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GYMNAST VANESSA FERRARI TRAINING FERRARI TRAINING WITH OTHER GYMNASTS FERRARI STRETCHING CLOSE UP OF FERRARI FERRARI'S COACH ENRICO CASELLA (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) VANESSA FERRARI SAYING: "I started when I was six or seven. In the beginning it was like a game" VARIOUS MORE OF FERRARI TRAINING CLOSE UP OF FEET FERRARI VAULTING (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) VANESSA FERRARI SAYING: "I'm very excited (about the Olympics), I'm preparing myself as best I can, but I'm not thinking about that yet", COACH SPEAKING TO FERRARI VARIOUS OF FERRARI PUTTING CHALK ON HER HANDS FERRARI DURING EXERCISES (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) FERRARI SAYING: "Love? No, not now. Now there's gymnastics. It's a very important moment in my life. I try to focus on training". FERRARI STRETCHING VARIOUS OF ITALIAN TEAM TRAINING VARIOUS OF FERRARI TRAINING
- Embargoed: 18th April 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAC29LFK3I5XRJGBV701IRZYYIF
- Story Text: Fans call her 'The Cannibal' for her competive drive, she is tiny and very powerful: Italian gymnast Vanessa Ferrari is gearing up for the Olympics in China.
Vanessa Ferrari is 17 years old, weighs 33 kilos, is dubbed 'the cannibal' by her fans and she will be Italy's front runner for gymnastics at the upcoming Olympic games.
She likes the Formula One car that bears her same name and red is her favourite colour. When she outpaces her rivals, no surprise if her coach tells her to "put the indicator on".
This tiny and powerful girl, who grabbed the first individual all-around gold medal in the history of the Italian women's gymnastics in 2006, has the stuff champions are made of.
"I started when I was six or seven. In the beginning it was like a game," Ferrari told Reuters recently (March 18) after performing an impressive routine on the uneven bars at her new gym in the northern city of Brescia.
That game has turned into her first Olympics this year, where Ferrari will be the front runner of the Italian gymnastics team.
"I'm very excited, I'm preparing myself as best I can, but I'm not thinking about that yet", Ferrari said, sitting barefoot after her morning training.
Tumbling and bouncing for more than 30 hours a week, with no exceptions but three days a year, Ferrari knows winning comes at a price.
Unlike the young girls of her age, she has no time for shopping - let alone dating.
"Love? No, not now," she whispered with a childish smile.
"Now there's gymnastics. It's a very important moment in my life. I try to focus on training".
Despite the recent medals, Italy can't rely on a winning gymnastics tradition. A reason why Italy's coach Enrico Casella is proud of his team's results.
In 2006 world champion Ferrari clinched the all-around title and a second gold on the floor at the European championships in Amsterdam, while her fellow Italian Carlotta Giovannini took gold on the vault.
A former rugby player and a nuclear engineer, Casella has thought up a training program made of personalized charts for each athlete and apparatus, unceasingly updated.
But like every sport, gymnastics has its ups and downs. Last year, at the world gymnastics championships in Stuttgart, Ferrari passed on her world crown to the U.S. champion Shawn Johnson, after a fall during the all-around dropped her into a tie for the third place.
Exams later revealed she had been suffering from a fracture of her left foot. The Italian gymnast is still coping with that injury.
But endurance and competitive drive are part of Ferrari's winning strength. That is why fans call her -
"The Cannibal". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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