It was a beautiful sunny day in Trento (Trentino, Italy) on Thursday, September 22nd for the first day of Il Festival dello Sport 2022 (September 22-25), yet in central Piazza Duomo a scent of snow could be clearly perceived.

Maybe it’s because December 22nd and the 69th edition of 3Tre are exactly three months away, or maybe because it’s precisely in Trento that the first idea of 3Tre came to life, from the intuition of founders Pier Antonio Ceri, Gian Giacomo Colombo, Rolly Marchi, Fabio Conci, Camillo Rusconi and Antonio Caliari: what’s for sure is that many people responded to the call of alpine skiing when 3Tre took the stage for one of the first events of the Festival’s programme.

Taking the floor in Piazza Duomo were Giorgio Rocca, the last Italian to date to triumph in the Italian temple of slalom, the Canalone Miramonti slope, back in 2005, and Paolo Luconi Bisti, the 3Tre historian and author of the book "The Great History of 3Tre", published by Giunti, which traces the most intense pages of this amazing adventure started in 1950.

In the talk anchored by Carlo Martinelli, the past and present of 3Tre and of Italian skiing emerged: from the origins and various venues of the of the "3 Races in Trentino" to their landing in Madonna, up to the expected return of the fans on the Canalone Miramonti, hoping to finally see the Italian flag wave again on the podium.

"When I was still an active athlete, though I had three second places before finally winning 3Tre in my magic year of 2005, I did not realize how hard it was to win 3Tre," said Rocca. "Now that success, and that year as a whole, acquire a different dimension: they certainly were my glory moment. Today, the Italian slalom needs to find a new reference athlete, and the fans in Madonna will return to shout with joy as in the good old, unforgettable days. "

On the first day of the Festival dello Sport, the special “Thirty-three Champions at 3Tre” photo exposition, curated by Paolo Luconi Bisti, has been open at Palazzo Geremia, with free access from September 22nd to 25th: a selection of the most significant shots of the Champions who have made the history of the Madonna’s classic. The photos are part of the Bisti family’s collection, taken by Paolo himself or his father Giovanni Battista.

After the prestigious gathering in Trento, 3Tre will continue its promotional journey around Italy: the next stage is scheduled for Thursday 27 October in Bologna.