Marco Vannini posted on Schermaonline.com his conversation with Aldo Montano

http://www.schermaonline.com/scherma...ticle&sid=1971


MV: How do you feel?
Montano: To be perfectly honest I can say that I feel good. I have highs and lows when I train and this on occasion makes me a little nervous because I demand a lot of myself and I'd like to always feel at 100%.

MV: What about the rapport with your team mates?
Montano: With Gigi (Tarantino), Diego (Occhiuzzi) and Giampietro (Pastore) there are no problems. In the individual competition it is logical for each one of us to think, as we should, only about our own personal success. In the team event we'll be together as always, after all we've been at this for quite some time. In the past few months after we qualified for the Olympics, we've fenced a bit below our expectations probably because to get the Olympic pass (as a team) was tough and it exhausted us psychologically and physically.

MV: A risky decision just few months before the Olympics--a change in Maestro?
Montano: Few months ago I decided to train again with my old Russian coach Viktor Sidyak with whom I had already worked from 1995 to 2001. This decision implied some sacrifices since I had to train for a period of time in Moscow but I felt the need to face someone with great experience, one who knew me already and who knows how to handle me and inspire in me the desire to be ready to suffer in order to win.

MV: What about your previous coach
Montano: I did not have any argument with my coach before Sidyak and we parted ways as friends. Giovannino (Sirovich, a Maestro from Rome who did follow Aldo in the period after Bauer) is a young and capable Maestro and will certainly prove himself but as I said before I needed something else.

MV: What about the way the Olympic competition is shaping up?
Montano: Obviously I took a look at what could be the pairing for the Olympic competition in my DE bracket but I really did not spend a lot of time thinking about my opponents. I'm well aware that to win there are many details which must all fall in place and the most important is to feel good and fence at your absolute best, regardless if your opponent is a Russian, a Polish, or a French.

MV: After Beijing?
Montano: I really have not yet decided what I'm going to do as far as fencing after Beijing, whether I'll retire or continue for another four years, considering that in November I'll be 30. One thing is sure: I want to go back to my hometown of Leghorn. I promised my daddy that I wanted to start getting involved with the family shipyard business which, like fencing, for us [as a family] is a tradition that must be carried forward.

MV: What about show business?
Montano: Right now I don't even think about the world of showbiz since I've got other things to keep me occupied. I want to wait until after the Olympics when I'll have a clearer and more precise picture of what my future is going to be. Then, as I said, if I'll help my daddy working in the family biz, showbiz will take a secondary position.


Aldo is set on the right track for China. Mature, serene, motivated, in great physical condition. If on August 12 the world will not be at his feet like four years ago, it will mean that the lucky Lady will have ignored him since in this physical and psychological condition he has very few opponents capable to stop him.

Marco Vannini