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There are days when sport ceases to be mere competition and becomes a human story, a mirror of a time and a place. On September 26, 2025, in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, one of those memorable days took place. Italy won the Under 23 World Championship with the gold medal from Lorenzo Mark Finn, but the true success belonged to an entire team: Finn, Pietro Mattio, Simone Gualdi , and Alessandro Borgo. Four boys, one soul.
Their embrace under the finish line, the arrow gesture that Finn shot as a promise kept, the simple and authentic words exchanged with journalists— all of this made the day memorable far beyond the rankings.
It was not just any World Championship. It was the first historic World Road Cycling Championship in Africa. Kigali, a green city nestled on the hills, still carries the weight of a tragic memory: the genocide of 1994, when over 800,000 people, including Tutsis and moderate Hutus, lost their lives. Since then, Rwanda has walked a difficult path of reconciliation, reconstruction, and hope.
In this context, sport has taken on enormous symbolic value. Not just cycling: it was a meeting between continents, between stories and wounds, between young people pedaling towards the future and a people that continues to rise.
Along the streets of Kigali, the runners were welcomed by a celebratory crowd, colorful flags, and brilliant smiles. An enthusiasm that went beyond competition, almost a collective embrace for those who brought energy, visibility, and passion.
The Under 23 race was decided with courage. A few kilometers from the finish, Lorenzo Mark Finn found the strength to break away from the group. A powerful progression, an attack that smelled of dreams. When he crossed the finish line, joy exploded: the arrow shot towards the sky—a gesture promised to a training partner—became iconic.
But the result is not measured only in that gold. Behind, Simone Gualdi, Pietro Mattio , and Alessandro Borgo completed their race honorably, arriving together, just seconds apart. The rankings placed them from 28th to 30th, but their value lies in having been part of a collective story. A team that raced as a unit, that protected and supported each other, that shared hardship and glory.
There is a phrase that made everyone smile, more than a thousand carefully studied declarations. Right after the podium, a journalist asked Pietro Mattio what they would do that evening. The answer was disarming: “We’ll play cards and have a little party. ”
No proclamations, no excesses. Just the truth of twenty-year-olds who, despite the champion's jersey, remain true to who they are: young people eager to be together, to laugh, to live lightly even in a historic moment.
The images confirmed it: the four of them all embraced, smiling, simple. Mameli's anthem was sung with enthusiasm rather than perfect pitch, and then the incredulous look of those who realize they are living an irreplaceable moment.
The World Championship in Kigali highlighted not only the talent of the runners but also the power of sport as a cultural bridge. While the Italian boys pedaled through the streets of the Rwandan capital, the crowd accompanied them with shouts, drums, and applause. A population often portrayed only for wars, epidemics, and emergencies appeared to the world yesterday with its vitality, joy, and beauty.
The encounter between European and African youth was touching. Children ran alongside the cyclists on the uphill segments, with wide eyes and contagious laughter. Families applauded, young people waved Italian and Rwandan flags, in an atmosphere that tasted of a global celebration.
It will not just be the gold of Lorenzo Mark Finn that remains. The official rankings will not be the only legacy. The memory of four Italian boys capable of winning with lightness and authenticity will endure. The image of the arrow under the finish line, the collective embrace, the simple phrase that tells more than any technical analysis: “let's play cards and have a little party.”
In an era when sport often bends to market logic, million-dollar contracts, and sensationalism, these young people have brought everything back to its essence: passion, teamwork, and humanity.
That day in Kigali, thirty years after the genocide, Italy sang its anthem in front of a people that has managed to be reborn. And it did so not with solemn proclamations, but with the smiles of four boys who, held in an embrace, reminded everyone that sport can be pure beauty.
A tricolor arrow was shot under the African sky. It flew lightly, like a symbol of youth, friendship, and hope. And, at least for one day, it united two continents in a single emotion.
Article by Erika Mattio
