SPORT
Italian sport has a great history of creating and maintaining legacies and traditions, leaving their indelible mark on many of the sports in which Italians and Italian teams compete. From the pioneering of Catenaccio, a tactic that became synonymous with Italian and defensive football in general, in the 1950s and 1960s by innovative managers such as Nereo Rocco and Helenio Herrera for Padova and Internazionale respectively, to the longevity on the F1 calendar of the cathedral of motorsport that is Monza, Italy has prided itself in creating sporting heritage that lasts. But while this heritage is to be celebrated, in some cases it can be contested, and even threatened with extinction, as this edition of La Civetta’s sports section will seek to explore.
Firstly, this edition will investigate the legacy of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, feted as the push forward Turin needed to gain international recognition only to encounter a myriad of problems in maintaining that push forward. In addition to this, Matt Coombe takes a look at the potential removal of Monza, the spiritual home of Italian motorsport, from the F1 calendar, while Louise Morgan gives an account of the push for ski mountaineering to be recognised as an official Olympic event, a push strongly supported by Italian aficionados. Finally, I provide a profile of the most popular amateur bike race in the world, la Nove Colli in Emilia Romagna, the history behind it, and its meaning for cycling as a sport. A lot of hard work has been put into these articles and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!
ROB COLE
SPORTS EDITOR