Olympic legend Antonio Rossi's horrendous near-death experience

Antonio Rossi is an Olympic legend, but the life of the Italian has not been easy. The former athlete suffered a heart attack that almost killed him.

"I had made a climb and felt nauseous, I assumed it was congestion, the tingling came on. Meanwhile, the others were whizzing past me," Rossi described the most terrifying moment of his life.

The athlete was not in a canoe this time but competing in the 2021 Gran Fondo Pinarello cycling event in Conegliano, northern Italy, when he suddenly started feeling unwell during a hill climb.

Rossi initially tried to persevere, but things just got worse, and he called emergency services at the first stop: "You're not moving, you're having a heart attack", the doctors told him after carrying out a test on the spot, Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera reported.

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The doctors saved him by a hair's breadth, as the blood clot he had had could have reached his head if they had not intervened promptly. Thankfully, in the end everything went well for Rossi, who made a full recovery

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Born in 1968, Rossi has been canoeing for as long as he can remember, as it was a shared passion in the family. But thanks to his talent and dedication, he would reach the absolute pinnacles of the sport.

Rossi has won many important titles during his career. These include five Olympic medals –  three golds, one silver, and one bronze – three World Championship golds and one European gold.

During the interview with Corriere, Rossi spoke about his early life, his career as an athlete and his important friendship with another Italian champion, gymnast Jury Chechi.

"Jury Chechi. He's a brother. He was there at the Gran Fondo in Conegliano, among the first people I looked for after realizing that I was really ill. He called my wife Lucia. Bad moments and good moments: we've experienced everything together," he told Corriere.

It is no coincidence, in fact, that his son is called Riccardo Jury, in honor of his great friend. Their friendship started in 1996 when the two were on the judging panel for the 'Miss Italia' competition.

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Among the anecdotes that the two champions often tell, there is one that will remain in history – one concerning a shopping cart. In a daredevil-like display, Chechi jumped in a shopping cart that was dragged behind Rossi's car as they took to the streets!

"We were laughing like crazy, until a certain point a police car appears and, as soon as he [Rossi] sees the flashing lights, he drops the trolley and makes me crash into a wall. The thing we still laugh at, however, are the faces of the policemen: they recognized us, we almost felt sorry for them," Chechi told Corriere about the incident which occurred in the early 2000s.

While no longer an athlete himself, Rossi is still involved in sports at an administration level and is currently working on the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Committee.

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