Tokyo 2020: Luigi Busà records karate, is the ninth gold for Italy at the Olympics

Luigi Busà signs a historical record. The Sicilian athlete triumphs in karate, specialty kumite -75 kg, giving theItaly the ninth gold medal a Tokyo 2020, 37th total: never had a blue expedition gone up like this a lot of times on the podium at an Olympics. A record that reaches the Nippon Budokan, the temple of martial arts, where «il Gorilla d’Avola»Manages to get the better of the very strong Azerbaijani Rafael Aghayev.

He jumps, he waves, he cries. Emotion of Luigi during the‘Mameli’s anthem it’s a lot. He is 33 years old, he started the path towards that highest step what had it only 13: he was a boy overweight, who, to get back into shape, chose to approach karate. The talent, however, came out immediately: in fact, from 2005, it begins a streak of successes at Italian, European and world level. So, when the IOC made it official the Olympic debut of karate in his homeland, the Japan, the Sicilian champion got it into his head that he wanted to get to play that one five-circle medal.

And so it went, even if the debut a Tokyo it was not the simplest. Accomplice perhaps a little bit of pressure, loses against the Kazakh Azhikamov in the qualifying round, but then he gets up, fights and wins two more meetings, managing to land on the semifinal. There he gets rid of the Ukrainian with a clear 3-0 Horuna and flies to the final, where his friend-opponent Aghayev is waiting for him. five times World Champion. The two know each other well, they train together, in fact the meeting is tremendous balanced: ends 1-0 for the “Gorilla d’Avola”, who manages to manage the benefit.

“If it’s a dream, do not wake me up»Says Luigi warmly. The dream of a whole country, who had never seen so many ad medals an Olympics.