Maurizio Damilano: from Olympic gold to the fitwalking challenge, protagonist on Sunday at the Book Fair

From gold in the 20 km walk at the Moscow Games to a victory for all. Sunday afternoon (2.15 pm – Pavilion 1), obviously in the Sala Olimpica as he is a five-circle champion, Maurizio Damilano presents the third edition «Walking well – The official manual of fitwalking» (Fusta Editore), a compendium created and updated together with the brothers Giorgio and Sandro, which has already reached and exceeded ten thousand copies sold.

The meeting will be moderated by the Corriere di Saluzzo journalist Lorenzo Francesconi and right in the Cuneo municipality, the three walker brothers, together with Fidal, founded the Scuola del Cammino di Saluzzo, an international center for walking training and the dissemination of fitwalking, a real own way to achieve daily well-being, or rather a small medal to be conquered every day.

How was this passion for fitwalking born?
«First of all with my brother Giorgio and then we also developed it with Sandro. After a high-level competitive career, we remained in the sports arena, but we wanted to focus on an activity open to everyone. In this discipline there is the nuanced concept of walking and it is a way of walking correctly, at a brisk pace: it is a way to find one’s well-being, fight against a sedentary lifestyle and protect one’s health”.

An ever-growing phenomenon: can you explain how?
«It is the synthesis of sport and well-being, because it is a world accessible without limitations and without discrimination. Not being a competitive discipline, we do not have precise numbers on practitioners, but according to Istat there are about 4 million Italians who try their hand at running or walking, and let’s say that they are more or less equally divided between the two disciplines ».

Can you tell us about the development of your book which proposes the «Damilano method»?
«Walking well is in its third edition. From 2008-2009 we have deepened the technical basis, then updated other aspects that have been integrated with respect to the sporting proposal, well-being, environmental sustainability, mobility in the city and motor practice that helps prevent ailments and pathologies ».

Is it true that many people have approached fitwalking after the various lockdowns for Covid?
«During the pandemic, for a long time walking was almost the only sporting activity allowed. We appreciated the benefits that we can derive from this simple gesture when we moved again after a period of great sedentary lifestyle and our health immediately benefited from it».

How did you choose to convert from competition to fitwalking?
“It was a natural transition for me. Before there were sporting goals, now there are goals in life, without purely competitive goals. Instead of concentrating on the performance itself, the idea is to build something new, to discover paths never taken, which allow us to have a more correct style in everyday life, keeping us active. I went from athletes focused on achieving the result at all costs to normal people attentive to the quality of life and looking for their own personal balance”.

His next goals?
«Hoping that, with the push of the Turin International Book Fair, many people will approach fitwalking, we are creating a network that is increasingly immediate, to respond to people’s different needs. Our project will be called Win, because it will represent the Walking Italian Network, or all those who walk in Italy, with an acronym that projects the mind on the concept of victory, because that represents the word “win” in English».

Speaking of victories, in Moscow you won gold like Sara Simeoni: did you read about the theft of your medal?
«I spoke to Sara shortly after the incident and I conveyed my sympathy to her, because I know the sentimental value more than the real one that that gold medal had. I hope that you can find it or that it will be returned to you: it would be like winning it a second time ».