Six-time Olympic and World Championship medalist is ready to call it a career at 33 years old. But first, she hopes to compete once last time at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Italian gymnastics icon Vanessa Ferrari will compete in her fifth and last Olympics in only 74 days—if she wins the Olympic Trials. That very first golden glory that has always eluded her might be her biggest motivation behind it. This Paris journey, in her words, is “much more difficult compared to all the others.”

In the 15 years of Vanessa’s elite career which began at 16, she hit a competence setback in Tokyo 2020 when American gymnast Jade Carey won what could’ve been her career’s first Olympic gold medal. Just ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the world heard Vanessa reflect on her 2021 performance.

‘Orzinuovi butterfly’ had a close encounter with Jade Carey

Vanessa Ferrari made Italian sporting history in Tokyo 2020 when she won a silver medal at the women’s floor gymnastics event. In the event, America’s Jade Carey got 14.366 points and beat the Orzinuovi butterfly’s 14.200 points. When Ferrari was asked by Olympics.com about the podium miss, she said, “She [Jade Carey] had a slightly stronger acrobatic move, she did well, so did I… so let’s say the thought was definitely there, but I was thrilled with the silver, and that’s perfectly fine.”

It was a bittersweet moment for Ferrari because, although she had won Junior titles since she was 13, it wasn’t until she was thirty that she secured her first Olympic medal following close calls in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and London in 2012. She dedicated her medal to all those who supported her throughout her injury-plagued career (2005- broke her right hand; 2007- fractured her left foot; 2015- Achilles tendon reconstruction; 2016- underwent surgery on both Achilles tendons and left ankle in 2016; 2017- tore her left Achilles tendon; 2019- surgery on both ankles). Ferrari became Italy’s first women’s gymnastics medalist since 1928.

In addition, Ferrari told Olympics.com, “After Tokyo 2020, it was very, very difficult for me to find inspiration, the desire to get back into it. With time, however, I found the desire to try again.” So what motivated her in that way?

Ferrari revealed, “To prove to myself that despite everything if I decide that I want to be there, I can do it.” Apart from that, watching young girls train alongside her also made her take one more shot. Many of those young prodigies are the ones whom Ferrari might have seen growing up. That has kept her hunger alive despite being in a tremendously demanding sport, Ferrari believed.

In fact even when Simone Biles withdrew from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics finale due to mental health concerns, Ferrari empathized with Biles and mentioned that Biles had apologized to her for pulling out. She revealed that if gymnasts struggle with disorientation in the air, it is a very scary experience and said, “I feel very sorry for her that she struggles with it, as she is such a great gymnast.”

Talking about the expectation in the sport, the veteran gymnast further explained, “Gymnastics demands everything and immediately from a very young age, it’s a very wearing sport, which hasn’t allowed me to always stay stable, but my character has allowed me to have such a long career because I was never fully satisfied. I always wanted more, so maybe thanks to this, I managed to keep going for so long.”

The other gymnasts competing for medals for Team USA are Simone Biles, 26, who has four Olympic golds, and Gabby Douglas, 28, who has three Olympic golds. The gymnastics trio has a history of competing against each other in gymnastics contests from over a decade ago. Amid them stands Jade Carey, who is attempting to successfully navigate dual pursuits.

Jade Carey is aware “it’s going to be different and hard”

Jade had to work hard to get the International Gymnastics Federation’s only consideration ever to guarantee herself a spot in Tokyo. Carey needed enough scores in World Cup events to be able to earn a nominative spot. She spent 16 months traveling around Germany, Qatar, Azerbaijan, and Australia, winning in vault and floor routines. On the night of the U.S. Olympic Trials, they formally accepted her into the team.

This year, Carey’s road to the Olympic podium poses a challenge with gymnastics veterans making their comeback. Along with that, she herself chose one more challenge to win. Apart from craving her niche spot in elite gymnastics, at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Jade Carey ventured into taking the challenge to become the first active NCAA women’s gymnast to be selected for the national team.

The 23-year-old took to social media last year and wrote, “It has always been a passion of mine to represent the United States and the [Oregon State] Beavs. With that being said, I am excited to share that I will be remaining at Oregon State while pursuing my dreams of the 2024 Olympics,” But 2023 has not been an optimistic one in that way.

Jade Carey struggled in last year’s US Classic with a disappointing 15th-place finish. However, she overturned that somehow winning the Swiss Cup alongside Yul Moldauer. So she knows that “It’s going to be different and hard” but Carey is ready to prove her mettle again.

“I want to get back [to the Olympics] and prove to myself that I can do it… I’ve just seen myself improve so much, in the all-around especially, that I want to be able to go out there and show everyone that I’m not just vault and floor, that I can do everything, and that I’ve worked so hard,” Carey mentioned firmly about her bid at the Paris Olympics. It remains to be seen if that grit finally lands her on the grand stage of Paris in little over two months.