When a sports champion decides to retire, some memories from his career come to mind, especially those associated with unforgettable emotions that we will treasure forever. If I think about Gigi Buffon, I can’t forget the 2006 World Cup and his save from Zidane with a header in the first overtime of the final against France; This amazing intervention allowed us to stay afloat with a 1-1 draw with the Azzurri and then lift the World Cup under Berlin skies after penalties.
Buffon’s choice hang up your shoes at the age of 45, this gives me the opportunity to reflect a little.
In general, for all athletes, and first of all for those who are real sacred monsters of their disciplines, is there an opportune moment to put an end to their career? The best choice would be retreat when the summit is reached perhaps retire after a prestigious win, or should we continue as long as we have the incentive and desire to compete (regardless of age), while allowing for the possibility of a physiological decline in terms of competitiveness and performance?
Michael Jordan (born 1963), protagonist of a 3-stage career, closed his second basketball bracket as a winner; the basketball champion retired for the second time in early 1999 after winning his 6th and final NBA title the previous year, leading the Chicago Bulls to the Finals against the Utah Jazz. Although MJ then returned to the court between 2001 and 2003 with a Washington Wizards jersey (which he co-owned in the meantime), one of the lasting memories he left us with is precisely that fantastic stop and shoot just seconds from the end of game 6. which decided the final series with Jazz.
Changing sports and looking at our house, we can’t help but remember Flavia Pennetta (born 1982), one of the greatest blue tennis players of all time; Brindisina decided to retire at the end of 2015 at the age of 33 after winning the US Open (the only Italian along with Francis Schiavone win a Grand Slam women’s singles title) and in the same year achieve her personal best singles ranking ever (climbing to No. 6 in the WTA World Rankings).
And what about Alberto Tomba (born 1966), Italian skier with the most World Cup victories, Olympic and World medal winner; The Bologna champion ended his fantastic career in 1998 by winning the last controversial special slalom.
Valentino Rossi (born 1979) chose a different path instead; The 9-time world champion, a true two-wheeled legend, said goodbye at the end of the 2021 season at the age of 42, experiencing a physiological decline in terms of competitiveness and results in the final part of his career, sometimes finding himself fighting behind the lines and taking on much lesser-known opponents.
Even big Gigi Buffon (born in 1978), one of the strongest and longest-lived goalkeepers, has experienced the final stage of his fantastic career. Returning to Juventus in 2019 after leaving for PSG, he accepted the role of assistant to Szczesna before moving to Parma (where his career began) in Serie B in 2021: after completing two years at Emilia, in whom he cherished the dream of returning the dukes to the top division, then he decided to hang up his boots.
In my imagination, I always thought that a sports champion should have retired at the peak of his career, maybe right after. win a trophy or a prestigious victory; the idea of a champion who, having won everything, could accept his own loss of competitiveness at a high level, even simply for reasons of age, puzzled me.
However, I admit that examples like those mentioned by Valentino Rossi and Gigi Buffon made me change my mind, making me admire even more champions, whose cases I have followed with great passion since childhood.
Especially for those who have won a lot in their sports life and have always been at the top, I think it is by no means simple faced with a phase of decline, competing, if only for the sake of passion, and with the realization that the struggle for victory is now someone else’s business.
From a human point of view, I felt that these champions were much closer to me in the final part of their career, and I infinitely appreciated their great humility and desire to continue to participate, even without proving anything to anyone.
It is rightly said that sport is a kind of metaphor for life; You can win or you can lose, but the difference lies in the heart, passion and commitment we put into what we do. And, as these champions teach us, as long as we have something inside us that makes us vibrate and excite, it is always worth going forward, continuing to develop our dreams and our passions.
Enrico Paci, August 6, 2023