Rome, Dec. 24 (LaPresse) – From triumphs to love, politics, and motherhood. Federica Pellegrini opens up in a long interview with Corriere della Sera. Politically, she describes herself as a “moderate right-winger” and, regarding Giorgia Meloni, she explains that she feels “a strong sense of female solidarity. I hope that a woman can achieve great things for women. But from this point of view, I’d say there’s still much room for improvement.”
As a woman and a native of Veneto, she was deeply moved by the story of Giulia Cecchettin. “When she was killed, I was pregnant with my daughter. That tragedy made me reflect on patriarchy and how often women are belittled.”
Then there’s love: first, her relationship with Luca Marin, which heightened her rivalry with French swimmer Laure Manoudou (Marin's ex-girlfriend). “Luca and Laure had already broken up,” she recalls. “Laure and I are on excellent terms; I even participated in the docufilm about her life.”
Then came her relationship with Filippo Magnini, which began after her breakup with Marin, who caught her in a room with Magnini during the World Championships in Shanghai. “My six years with Filippo were significant, beautiful, and very challenging,” says Pellegrini. But there was infidelity: “I caught him cheating twice,” she reveals.
To win over her husband, and former coach, Matteo Giunta, “I made myself vulnerable in a way I never had before. I flirted, tried to send out sparks, but he… stayed motionless. I kept wondering, ‘Will he realize it?’ He only let go once he was sure it was something serious.” Pellegrini also admits that, once, during “a somewhat drunken evening,” she “kissed a woman,” but clarifies that she doesn’t feel any attraction to the same sex.
With Giunta, she had a daughter, Matilde. She describes motherhood as “an epochal change. I expected it, but not like this.”