History of images (part two)

In my first year competing as an Italian I won the world title in the K1 500 mt
Competition. In 1989 the Berlin wall came down. The German Kayaking Federation
was enormously reinforced by the strong Eastern German athletes they acquired.
According to them it was easy for me to become Italian. They thought my career was over and that I was a loser. On the podium with me are Ivonne Knudsen and Katrin Borchert (Germany). .........Good thing my career was over!!

I arrived in Barcellona after winning two World Championships. The pressure was enormous, but I had a great season.
The re-entry of Birgit Smith (female kayaking wonder) and the Polish Isabella Dylewska (suspended two years for doping) changed drastically the parameters in competition.
I felt a tremendous weight being everyone's favorite, and also because of our (Guglielmo and me alone) inexperience at such an important event.

I came in fourth place, what a huge let-down. Fourth place, it was a really bad competition. You can see it in the photo.
This defeat actually helped us mature and build a new Josefa. The important thing
is that my husband always had faith in me and my possibilities. I think my physical –
psychological growth took a long time.

After the disappointment in Barcellona and Copenhagen (a flip-in just 10 cm from
the finish line, with a guaranteed second place winning), Guglielmo and I decided
to drop an anchor into the future by starting a family. I discovered that I was expecting
a baby just before the World Championship in Mexico City. We decided to compete anyway and I won third place (being ten weeks pregnant withJanek).

Janek was born on April 30th. On August 18th, coming in eighth, I qualified to compete
in the Olympics in Atlanta.

The three top women that dominated the kayaking (in K1) world in the nineties.
Rita Coban (Hungary) gold, Caroline Brunet (Canada) silver and Josefa Idem(Italy) bronze.

This was one of the most competitive teams in the history of FICK. The Italians won eight medals (the pinnacle was gold for Rossi and Negri). I won three silver medals. The three world titles went to the great Canadian, Caroline Brunet, who started a new era.

Finally!!! At the World Championships in Szeged (Hungary) I won mythird world title (K1 1000 mt) after those in Poznan (1990) in K1 500 mt and Paris (1991) in K15 000 mt.
I classified in third place in K500 mt and second place in K200 mt. The world titles were won by Caroline

I would have loved to have heard, at least once, Mameli's anthem. Unfortunately, Caroline won first place in all three events (K1 1000, 500, 200) and I had to be satisfied with three second positions (not bad though). The five hundred meter podium was the same as Atlanta, except that I gained one position. Was it a good omen? In those last four years however, I had been the only athlete to show that I was up to beating Caroline Brunet.

This is the podium in Sydney. I'm one step higher and Mameli's anthem will play for me and all my fans..... I have learnt how to fly...... On such a terrible day in kayaking history, regarding important competitions, I gave a great performance (especially on the mental side). I opened that drawer that held my dream...an Olympic Gold.

In 2001 in Milan, at the European Championships, I won the K1 1000mt. This time the great Hungarian, Katalin Kovacs (who can be seen in this photo), beat me. In Poznan (Poland) the same place I won my first world title in 1990, I fought back and won two world
titles, the K1 500 mt and the K1 1000 mt. At the end of the race, astonished, I cried out,
“Oh my God, what have I done?”

Thirteen years of commitment and determination, with a consciousness that we could achieve great things together. This exciting journey together, also with our son
Janek on our kayaking tour, has been filled with many mixed feelings. At times there
was bitterness, disappointment, anger and loneliness. Also moments of passion and glory which gave me the maturity and awareness, as an athlete, to make my dreams come true.