Athlete and guide, guide and athlete, athlete and athlete, triathlete and Paralympic triathlete. There’s no difference. There’s no difference. So you see them swimming, cycling, running Francesca And Silvia and the emotion is alive, it is a spectacle to see them move together, blue on blue because, sometimes fate, leotards and arrival catwalks are of one color. And it is a “solo” that runs and recurs because they too are a single person, a single action… Speaking of music in these cases it is said that they move in unison which is when two voices, two songs, two parts or even two different instruments emit the same sound, the same intonation, the same frequency, the same melody at the same time. And it really is music. Even the triathlon is truly music Francesca Tarantello22 year old from Padua, visually impaired since birth and a few years ago, a national team player for the Italian team and Silvia Visaggi29 years old from Turin who competes linked to her. Athlete and guide but in reality a single athlete, held together by a cord that unites them by the hands and holds together two worlds that have met, they understand each other perfectly and move quickly towards the same horizon: “We compete in two but we are all one – says Francesca on the Paralympic Committee website – Silvia is my eyes, she guides me and there is a bond between us that goes beyond the competition or training. There is feeling, there is trust…”. Which applies to her but also to Silvia: “We reassure each other and motivate each other – she writes on social media – When I was asked to play the role of guide I had no doubts: I accepted with great enthusiasm and the harmony with Francesca it was immediate. A simple cord unites us but we must never stop at appearances because in that cord there is the sense of mutual help, there is union, there is our friendship…”. And it couldn’t be otherwise. To swim, cycle, run as a single athlete it is not enough to train together, struggle together, have the same goals. It’s not enough to move in sync with your legs and arms. We need to breathe together, listen to each other, imagine each other, be able to interpret even small gestures. You have to love yourself a little. We need to have the same hopes that for the two Italians in recent months, from the Paris Olympics to the Paratriathlon World Championships in Torremolinos in Spain, have been colored silver. Two medals but in reality only one because with that cord even dreams are held together. Two dreams, or rather just one.

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