After Mauro carried the torch in Pavia on 14 January, his teammate and fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games individual medallist Lucilla Boari carried it on a leg on 19th January in her hometown of Mantua, along the ‘Prince’s Road’ (La Via Del Principe).
“The importance of being at home and walking with the Olympic flame in my hand along that stretch made my experience so important, so exciting,” said Boari.
One of the most decorated archers in history, London 2012 gold medallist Michele Frangilli also carried the torch on 15 January, by Lake Maggiore at the base of the Italian Alps, calling it “a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and one that means even more to me, having participated in four Olympic Games as an athlete.”
He in turn was preceded by Paralympian Eleonora Sarti who carried the torch on a 200m leg in central Bologna on 10 January. “I was very happy to have been contacted because of the values I try to convey in sport and in life. I was incredulous and really excited, and until I had the torch in my hand, I couldn’t believe it,” said the 2015 World Champion.
“There were people shouting my name and cheering me on behind me, the towers were lit up, and I had the lit torch in my hand. It was an immense thrill,” she added.
They follow Claudia Mandia, the 2016 Olympian who carried the torch in Salerno on 21 December, and the Greek six-time Olympian Evangelia Psarra, who was part of a leg in Thessaloniki, Greece on 2 December.
Paralympians Stefano Travisani and Francesco Tomaselli along with para-archer and multi-sport athlete Dalia Demano are also on the list to carry the flame in the build-up to the Games.
