Debates, round tables, readings, projections, visits and sporting performances: all this took place this evening at Palazzo Farnese in the 2023 edition of the Notte delle Idee entitled “Sempre di più? Un mondo in transizione” with the common thread of sport and sustainability.

With just over a year to go before the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris and less than three years until the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, representatives from many of the institutions of the transalpine and Italian sports movements spoke at the French embassy in Rome: Olympic and Paralympic committees, organising committees of the forthcoming Games, sports federations, anti-doping agencies and protagonists from the world of e-sports.

In an ethical, social, educational and historical sphere, the themes discussed included health, geopolitics, inclusivity, innovation and literature, with the participation of leading Italian and French sportsmen and women such as Federica Pellegrini or Pascal Gentil, and athletes, parathletes, writers and researchers. The Library of the Ecole Française de Rome hosted readings of literary texts on sport proposed by university students, while in the garden and courtyard, demonstrations of Olympic and Paralympic sports (judo, taekwondo, breakdancing, wheelchair basketball, table tennis, fencing and wheelchair fencing) were offered in collaboration with various French and Italian Federations.

“I am very pleased and honoured to welcome you for this Notte delle Idee,” said Christian Masset, French Ambassador to Italy, opening the evening. “I sincerely thank CONI President Giovanni Malagò and CIP President Luca Pancalli and I bring you the greetings of Federica Pellegrini, the evening’s ambassador, who was unfortunately unable to be here due to train issues. The focus of our meeting is sport and sustainability because we are on the eve of the return of the Olympic Games to Europe with Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026. This is a night of ideas, a night of sport, a night of friendship and the promise of a better future". 

“There is an extraordinary liaison between Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026", declared CONI President Giovanni Malagò, in his speech at the round table “Il ritorno dei Giochi in Europa". “There is reciprocity; we have signed several protocols; there are many joint initiatives and next week we will be in Paris as there is a meeting with the European Olympic committees: we will talk a lot about the 2026 Winter Games. I believe that the combination of Paris 2024 and Milan Cortina 2026 in one year and seven months represents the maximum sports offering: we’ll be playing a wild card,” Malagò remarked, confident for the medal haul of the French edition. “Doing better than Tokyo 2020 will be difficult, because we did really well, but we will try: I am optimistic". 

“Paris 2024 has great responsibilities", recalled Sophie Lorant, Director of International Relations for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. “We are preparing a revolutionary Games. We want to organise a spectacular ceremony on the Seine and an Olympic Games for everyone: our aim is to leave a material and non-material legacy". 

“I wholeheartedly share Sophie’s speech", said Italian Paralympic Committee President Luca Pancalli. “In the legacy of an Olympic and Paralympic event there is not only the material aspect, on the contrary the most important legacy is an intangible one: cultural and social growth, the ability to set ideas in motion. In Italy we have not only created a Paralympic movement, but we are changing the country by using sport and victories for a silent cultural revolution: by looking at our abilities and educating civil society to become enriched by differences, we will help the country to grow in a civil, cohesive and social way". 

Silvia Salis, Deputy Vice President of CONI, also spoke at the Notte delle Idee, as part of the round table “Vivere i Giochi: la parola ai campioni”, which was also attended by Gilles de la Bourdonnaye, Paralympic table tennis medallist, Pascal Gentil, world taekwondo champion and Olympic medallist, and David Smétanine, medallist in Paralympic swimming. “Major sporting events are a huge opportunity", declared Salis. “Clearly, the Olympic Games have a greater organisational complexity, but they can change the face of a city. Olympics and Paralympics can upturn the sensibility and culture of the country, leaving an important legacy. I think of the missed opportunity of Rome 2024 and look instead at what is happening with Milano Cortina 2026. What do I wish for Paris 2024? My dream is that there is a great result for the Italian team, a personal dream, however, is that the war, this nightmare, is over". 

(Photo: Mezzelani/GMT)