Sara Simeoni, passion for wine, and that sip of Bonarda before the world record jump

Usually, to victories and records people toast “afterward”. But, sometimes, even “before”. As told, to WineNews, by a legend of Italian sport, loved like few others. That is, the queen of the high jump, Sara Simeoni, world record holder in 1978, with a record of 2.01 meters, a measure achieved twice, and remained unbeaten for 30 years, gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, with colleagues such as Pietro Mennea, and today also a writer with “A Life in the High Jump”, the autobiographical book written, four-handed, with the historical Rai sports journalist, Marco Franzelli, for Rai Libri, a finalist for the “Premio Bancarella Sport” 2023. And, in which, surprisingly, an entire chapter is dedicated to wine, for which as an athlete she was a testimonial, an ambassador of the historic Enoteca Italiana in Siena, which today is no longer there, but which brought so much Italian wine to the world.
Sara Simeoni, who, fresh from her appointment as “Ambassador of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano” - a recognition bestowed on her by the Consorzio del Vino Nobile led by Andrea Rossi and Paolo Solini, a wine institution “of a territory that I love, that I know well and that I have often frequented, also for having been a juror of “A Tavola con il Nobile” (a culinary competition in which the Contradas of the Bravìo delle Botti, the historic barrel race on the streets of the town, one of Tuscany’s Renaissance gems, compete in the kitchen), and where I feel at home” - confided to WineNews director Alessandro Regoli, talking about history, passions, wine and sports (video interview in the coming days): “before the jump for the world record, I was not feeling very well. At the time I was competing for a club in Turin, whose manager was Livio Berruti (another Olympic champion and 200-meter record holder in the 1960s, ed.). To cheer me up, he made me drink a drop of Bonarda. And then it went the way it went. Of course”, Sara Simeoni jokes, “I didn’t set the record for that, but surely that sip of wine didn’t hurt me!”.
As it does not, after all, to anyone if consumed sparingly and in moderation. Even to those who play sports. “I am from Veneto”, Simeoni, now a splendid 70-year-old born in Rivoli Veronese, said again, “and wine in my life has never been lacking. Not even during my sports career, to celebrate victories, but also defeats, to take them better and move forward. Wine is one of the stars of Italy, which has impassioned me and made me know and discover many territories, such as Montepulciano and its Vino Nobile”. Of which now, Sara Simeoni, is officially an ambassador to the world.