«As a mother, first night without the twins»- Corriere.it

Once she got off the platform, after having easily overcome the preliminaries of the women’s foil and snatched admission to the main draw, the new mother Arianna Errigo has rediscovered the passion of the fans, who demanded selfies and autographs. But her bathing in her enthusiasm didn’t stop her from phoning her mother: Where are the children?. it is inevitable that Stefano and Mirea, the twins born on March 3, are at the center of the thoughts of the blue champion at least, if not more, than blades and assaults. They arrived at MiCo (the headquarters of the World Cup in Milan, ed) even… before me – and the joke is accompanied by a dazzling smile -. Last night was the first without them, it was more my problem than mine. But I told the parents: “Don’t stay too close, because if I hear them crying…”. Being an athlete and being a mother: Arianna is experiencing it too. I live in a bubble, with the sound of the washing machine in the background. Meanwhile, you have put your opponents in this round in the washing machine, which turned out to be a pleasant formality: 6 victories and 0 defeats, only 4 hits allowed. So, to explain.

Arianna, what was the feeling of this return to racing in the new dimension of mum?
That of the will to do: it’s already incredible to be at this World Cup. I was a bit tense, I admit it: I had no points of reference and it was difficult to understand my state of form.

She is seen for Errigo with the right face: authoritarian and decisive.
I felt good, I feel I can have my say. After all, if I weren’t in good condition, Stefano Cerioni wouldn’t have called me up: he took my place, to give it to me, to someone who played an incredible season (for the record, Francesca Palumbo was sacrificed in the individual, while Martina Batini will not be in the team event, ed). Did I make the assaults easier? Real. But it wasn’t so obvious.

returned after a year: how exciting was it to dive into the past and rediscover a fencing competition?
Very emotional. I’ve never had to sit still for so long, fortunately in her career I’ve never had serious injuries. For me, there are many firsts in this World Cup, including being on the platform as a mother. But it was also the first time, at a World Cup, that I had to go through qualifying. In the past it had happened to me only four times and in other events: it was the story of 2009. It was absolutely not obvious to be promoted easily.

Now there is the prospect of aiming to win, or to get on the podium, after motherhood. Colleagues such as Valentina Vezzali, Elisa Di Francisca or the French swordsman, who later became a minister, Laura Flessel have succeeded.
Always win a goal, but for now I’ll take the advice Daniele Garozzo gave me: “Arianna, enjoy it”. So I will experience the World Cup in this spirit, but with a strong desire to do something great.

Have you already taken a look at the future?

Well, the first goal is the Paris Games. But I’m 35!! So I have to take one step at a time on this front as well.

How did it go with breastfeeding?

For three months I did. Then I ran into three mastitis, a very painful experience, and it was better to let it go. But I see that the babies have no problem with bottle feeding.

Mirea, an uncommon name for baby girl.

It refers to Latin roots, the meaning “to be admired”: let’s say I put a lot of weight on her. But she was the first choice, as well as Stefano, the name of my husband Luca’s father. If it had been a second boy, instead, he would have been called Marco, like my dad.

Music, listened to at the bottom of the platform to relax: what are your favorite tunes?

They’ve always asked me, because since I was a little girl I’d first listened to it and then won the assaults: but I’ve never revealed anything, so the secret remains.

Six easy wins. But have you understood how you can improve to return to the Errigo of the highest levels?

We must always reflect on what it takes to grow. For example, I can think that I have not won all the assaults to zero….

Good sign: the perfectionist is back among us.