TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year VIDEO – Interview with Marco Gradoni, the indomitable

How does it feel, at only 16 years old, to have made sailing history? To have accomplished a feat never before achieved by anyone? Marco Gradoni feels no pressure on him, like the true champion he is: here is what he told, at the microphones of Mino Taveri and Bacci Del Buono, the golden boy who won three Optimist World Championships in a row. The first of ten finalist candidates for TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year, the most prestigious award in Italian sailing! A rethought and “expanded” Sailor of the Year over time, a unique, online, never-before-seen format.

Until June 6 (when you will finally find out who the TAG Heu Sailor of the Year will be.er 2020) we will bring you home, day after day, the best stories and the great protagonists of Italian sailing. The stories of the ten finalists you chose, with more than 78,000 votes on the Sailor of the Year. And whom we will interview, one by one.

MARCO GRADONI, THE INDOMITABLE – THE INTERVIEW

WHO IS MARCO GRADONI

Marco Gradoni, 16, an athlete from the Roman sailing club “Tognazzi Marine Village,” has won the world title in the Optimist youth class three times in a row, the last in 2019, the only one in the world to have succeeded in this feat, which also earned him the “World sailor of the year” award. “As a child I dreamed of being a policeman, then let’s say in recent years I changed my mind, my dream now is to be a professional sailor,” he told us.

“I have no anxiety that I can go wrong in the future, because I know that if I do things the way I know how to do them, I can do well in what’s to come,” words from a young man who shows incredible maturity. “My teammates are all my friends, so if I have figured out something that can help them, I like to share it with them.” , words of a true team man.

And on the secrets of his boat, he says, “The Optimist as a big secret has sensitivity, you have to feel the boat, where it wants to go and how, if you are good you hardly ever use the rudder. Then the rest is all mental, you have to be strong in your head and focused.” A boy coming to terms with notoriety at 16: “I’m happy with the visibility these victories have given me, but I’m not intimidated, it’s something I can only be happy about and it can help me. Although the first day I went sailing, when I was 7 years old, I have to admit I was pretty scared.” In his third year of high school science, this boy has already made sailing history.

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How to Follow the 2020 TAG Heuer Sailor of the Year

The Sailor of the Year is organized by Giornale della Vela (a leading Italian sailing magazine since 1975) with naming partner TAG Heuer, a well-known Swiss precision watch brand, and in collaboration with B&G.

You can follow it from Tuesday, May 26 to Sunday, June 7 (at 5 p.m., except for the Evening of Champions on June 6, at 9 p.m.). All bets will of course remain available to you, on all our platforms!

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