Massimiliano Presti
One would expect that it will be simple to find information about him in Wikipedia and elsewhere. This was not the case only in the Italian version of Wikipedia I found a bit information about his records and his family. He was born in 1975 in San Giovanni la Punta on Sicily. His father liked skating and teach him his two brothers and sister skating. Between 2000 and 2009 he has been 6 times winner in the world Cup Inline speedskating, once second and two times third.
Fortunately I found an interview with him by Andre Haritchelat in “Patin Argentino” which started with saying:
If skating had been football, he would be Maradona
If skating had been Hollywood, he would be Tom Cruise
If skating had been business, he would be Bill Gates
The Swiss call him “The flying Zorro” and they are right. The guy slides between gorillas of 150 kilos without transpiring, swings on the peloton wave like a Hawaiian surfer, and solves this problem 1 minute before the opponents. Young athletes (some with world titles) at the end of a marathon exclaim with admiration: “Did you see Presti? Incredible!”
If skating had been football, he would be Maradona
If skating had been Hollywood, he would be Tom Cruise
If skating had been business, he would be Bill Gates
The Swiss call him “The flying Zorro” and they are right. The guy slides between gorillas of 150 kilos without transpiring, swings on the peloton wave like a Hawaiian surfer, and solves this problem 1 minute before the opponents. Young athletes (some with world titles) at the end of a marathon exclaim with admiration: “Did you see Presti? Incredible!”
In the interview Massimiliano says that the life in Sicily was not very easy therefore many people start with sport to avoid the problems. His father was an enthusiast skater who taught his four children to skate. He suggested to start skating when the sun was raising around 7 in the morning. Not only his father contributed to his skating quality also his sister showed him hoe he should skate the curves of the tracks. She was very good in this respect.
With this background he became an extremely successful inline skater. Already in 1999, he became for the first time the winner of the World Cup. He repeated that 6 times in the 21th century.
After these successful years he married and got a child. At that time problems arose with the Italian skating Federation because they required him to participate in the Italian national championship in order to be able to participate in the world championships. He complained that he had to earn money for his family and could not spend so much time on such championship which provided little money. Therefore, he looked for other work and did not participate any more in championships. For some years he was the trainer of a important Italian skating club which led to successes of his pupils but the parents did not understand what one had to do to become a good international skater. Therefore, he abolished this work. Then he was asked as technical director of the Italian skating selection. With this selection he obtained again many successes in the international championships but none of the skaters was so far as successful internationally as Massimiliano himself.
With this background he became an extremely successful inline skater. Already in 1999, he became for the first time the winner of the World Cup. He repeated that 6 times in the 21th century.
After these successful years he married and got a child. At that time problems arose with the Italian skating Federation because they required him to participate in the Italian national championship in order to be able to participate in the world championships. He complained that he had to earn money for his family and could not spend so much time on such championship which provided little money. Therefore, he looked for other work and did not participate any more in championships. For some years he was the trainer of a important Italian skating club which led to successes of his pupils but the parents did not understand what one had to do to become a good international skater. Therefore, he abolished this work. Then he was asked as technical director of the Italian skating selection. With this selection he obtained again many successes in the international championships but none of the skaters was so far as successful internationally as Massimiliano himself.
Comment
It is remarkable that such a great speed skater got so little attention in the media. This does not hold for all inline speed skaters because for example Chad Hedrick, Joey Mantia and Bart Swings have obtained a lot of attention in the media. The difference may be that Massimiliano Presti was only active in inline skating and not in skating on ice as the others did.
It is remarkable that such a great speed skater got so little attention in the media. This does not hold for all inline speed skaters because for example Chad Hedrick, Joey Mantia and Bart Swings have obtained a lot of attention in the media. The difference may be that Massimiliano Presti was only active in inline skating and not in skating on ice as the others did.