Il Cavaliere del Castello [The Castle's Knight] (oasport.it, 01 Jul 2019)

Motorcycles, travelling, music. (Athlete, 20 Jul 2021)

Armed Forces Athlete

Partner Eleonora

Italian

Aeronautica Militare: Italy

Luigi Rocchini [personal, national], from 2002; Marco Fortuna [national]; Alberto Busnari [national]

His father Massimo is technical director of the sports organisation ASI Vitattiva and president of the sports organisation Gym Point. (asinazionale.it, 30 Jul 2020)

2013

He underwent surgery on his right shoulder in July 2020. (oasport.it, 15 Jul 2020)

He sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery in 2007. The injury kept him out of competition for almost two years. (marcolodadio.it, 01 Nov 2018)

He began training in 2001 in Frascati, Italy.

"My parents had a gym. For entertainment, I tried competing and realised how much fun it was. From there it became a passion."

To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (oasport.it, 15 Apr 2023)

Winning a silver medal on the rings at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. (Athlete, 20 Jul 2021)

Russian gymnast Alexei Nemov. (Dimensione Suono Roma YouTube channel, 24 May 2017)

Coach Luigi Rocchini. (Athlete, 20 Jul 2021)

In 2019 he received the Roma USSI Award from the Rome section of the Italian Sports Press Union for his results during 2018. (federginnastica.it, 27 May 2019)

In 2018 he was presented with the OA Sport Award by the Italian news outlet Olimpia Azzurra. (oasport.it, 26 Dec 2018)

SPORTING HIATUS
He took a break from the sport after failing to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I decided to stop, or at least to take a break from sporting activity to continue with my career of coaching in order to evaluate other working options. After four months I returned to training after overcoming the darkest period in my career. It was a period in which I was not feeling good and struggled at training. I felt the pressure and I was not relaxed. It was like everyone was only focusing on my results and neglecting me, the person. For four months I didn't train, I skipped the 2015 World Championships [in Glasgow, Scotland] and other competitions. I was convinced that I would quit the sport. After a long, tedious period I returned with a big mental change. I regained what I had lost, the desire to do gymnastics not because I was told that I could become a good gymnast, but because it was a real passion. I returned much more calm and started competing again. I understood that the challenge was not against the others any more, but against myself, and I was able to get rid of the pressure." (marcolodadio.it, 01 Nov 2018; vanityfair.it, 01 Dec 2019)

ITALIAN RINGS TRADITION
He says Italy's strong tradition in rings attracted him to the discipline. "Rings have an expression of strength that fascinates people. I think that having had so many Italian champions that have shaped the Italian tradition, this has motivated so many kids towards the discipline. Even I was hooked unconsciously by the appeal of this apparatus, giving to it more attention than others. It is built different and, besides, the technique needed obliges you to work on real and pure strength. I began as a vaulter, my first European junior medal was in vault, but later the rings conquered me." (vanityfair.it, 01 Dec 2019)