ROME – Roger Federer has donated one million francs, just under one million euros, to the Swiss families most in difficulty due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Swiss champion himself announced this through a post on his Instagram profile. “These are difficult times for everyone, and nobody should be forgotten – Federer writes -.
Mirka and I have decided to donate one million Swiss francs to Switzerland's most vulnerable families.
Our contribution is only the beginning. Hopefully others will come together to support families in need. Together we can overcome this crisis! Stay healthy! ".
Tokyo Olympics postponed for coronavirus, Federer and other champions in there with age will be there in 2021 ?.
For many athletes over the years, the Japanese event was a dream pursued with tenacity and great willpower, the ideal farewell step for those who have fed sports all their lives.
A goal that an unexpected opponent, the pandemic from Covid-19, has pushed away, postponing it to summer 2021. For most athletes all over the world this will mean prolonging the preparation, gritting their teeth for 12 more months.
But for some others, the decision made official by the IOC will mean dealing with the advancing age.
Here it is, then, the generation that probably will not have a farewell catwalk. So many champions that presumably will end
to lose their last Olympics.
Perhaps it will not be the case for Federica Pellegrini, 31, despite the weight of the new challenge that awaits her.
“I have to swim another year, I don't want to believe it – commented Divina on Instagram – It looks like a joke. We hope that the body will continue to hit. " The swimmer does not give up:
“A two-year postponement would have led me to retirement. A year is a sacrifice, but it can be done, even if in a few months I thought I would change my life. I remain positive and tedious, I want to do this Olympiad ". But the question is there, impossible to deny it.
Similar doubts cross the minds of the cycling champion Vincenzo Nibali, the saber Olympian Aldo Montano (42 years old, "I see it hard", he says at Ansa) and the gymnast Vanessa Ferrari (30 in November), who – qualifications allowing – you would like to play the last chance to win an Olympic medal.
A year longer, then, can be a significant obstacle for blue-mothers-athletes. Tania Cagnotto, born in 1985, pur
sharing the decision of the IOC, he does not hide that in the 2021 Olympics "I don't think I can participate".
Elisa Di Francisca is also undecided. “Continue until the 2021 Games? I have to think about it, I'm undecided between having a second child or waiting for the Games. It would be nice to do another Olympiad, I'm sorry to leave like this but a year is long, "says the blue florist.
“I think about what to do. The decision to postpone the Games is sacrosanct, but for us mothers it is difficult, there are constant sacrifices. But let's resist. "
On the international scene, the first name in doubt is now that of Roger Federer, 38 years old. The tennis star was keen to be in Tokyo, where he wanted to win Olympic gold in the singles, one of the very few titles that are missing from his extraordinary career.
And then there are the basketball players Pau and Marc Gasol, the other tennis player Rafa Nadal, the canoeist Saul Craviotto, the triathlete Gomez Noya, the cyclist Alejandro Valverde or the swimmer Mireia.
All names of living myths in their respective disciplines, timeless champions who, however, paradoxically, no longer have the age for the Games (source Ansa).
Source: Blitz Quotidiano