Pescante e Chechi Thrill 300 Students at First Olympic Lecture Sponsored by The Rome 2020 Committee

On Monday, December 5th, 2011, at the Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale "G. Galilei" (Via Conte Verde, Rome), the association "GiovaniRoma 2020" (YouthRome 2020, YR2020), backed by the Provincial Authority of Rome, sponsored by the Rome 2020 Committee, started off with its mission: to spread the Olympic values among those who will be the protagonists of the future in the city of Rome and in Italy as a whole.

Speaking to roughly 300 students aged between 16 and 18 years, Mario Pescante, President of the Rome 2020 Committee, and the Olympic champion Yuri Chechi gave a lecture on "philosophy and Olympic values – from the origins of the Olympiads in Greece to their renaissance at the end of 1800s with Mr. De Coubertin.

Moderating, the kind and professional Iman Sabbah, a Rai News journalist who, due to her personal background with her Palestinian origins and her Israeli citizenship, fully interpreted the spirit of racial and cultural cohesion embodied by the intersection of the Olympic rings.

Highly spoke President Mario Pescante, who highlighted the ethical implications of the Olympic experience, underlining the need of socio-cultural cohesion to which the Olympic Games fully comply, and so did Yuri Chechi who, with his five Olympic participations as a protagonist, was able to draw the students’ attention by sharing his "behind the scenes" secrets about the Olympic competition and by conveying the enthusiasm of a career lived with great pathos, sacrifice and satisfaction.

Great ideas came from the students too, who asked several questions to their interlocutors, questions that were answered brilliantly and convincingly by President Pescante and Mr. Chechi, and also by journalist Piero Mei, Province staff member Paolo Orneli on behalf of Nicola Zingaretti, President of the Province, and former Olympic athlete and Rome 2020 Committee member, Novella Calligaris.

The next meeting, centring on history and the Olympics, will be scheduled between January and February 2012.

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