On 27 September, the Italian Day of Sport was held at the University of Cape Town (Uct), organised in collaboration with the University's Hpals (Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Sport) Department. The event was attended by the Italian Ambassador Alberto Vecchi, the Italian Consul in Cape Town, Giulio Mignacca, and Prof. Luca Tiano, scientific attaché at the Embassy. During the meeting, the importance of sport as a tool for social inclusion and well-being was emphasised, while at the same time strengthening scientific and academic cooperation between Italy and South Africa.
Also present at the event was the legendary Marcello Fiasconaro, an Italian athlete of South African mother and now living in South Africa, whose historic world record in the 800 metres, set in 1973, remains unbeaten as an Italian record. His testimony highlighted the importance of the scientific support and high-level training that enabled him to achieve this exceptional goal, despite the difficulties he faced during the apartheid period. Jeroen Swart, Professor of Sports Medicine at Uct, then presented his talk on cycling performance assessment. Swart described how modern technology and scientific research are crucial to the success of world-class athletes and demonstrated the importance of collaborations with research centres and the integration of nutrition, training and performance analysis. From Italy, Dr. Giovanna Ghiani from the University of Cagliari illustrated the exceptional journey of a young Sardinian athlete who, over the course of three years, completed three extreme challenges to raise money for charity: swimming 50 km in the open sea, running 21 marathons in 21 consecutive days and, this year, swimming 100 km non-stop.
The University of Cagliari supervised the scientific aspects of the feats, monitoring the athlete's health and physiological parameters to ensure that the extraordinary efforts did not compromise his psychological and physical well-being. The study aims to demonstrate how a structured scientific approach can enable an athlete to exceed his or her limits, minimising risks while promoting physical activity as an instrument of solidarity.
In conclusion, a partnership was initiated between the University of Cagliari and the Hpals of Uct, with the aim of developing joint projects in the field of sports medicine and exercise science, also favouring the mobility of researchers between the two countries.
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