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One of the first issues to be addressed is the definition of the society’s headquarters: a very small flat in via Valadier n.6. The training ground is the huge Piazza D’Armi, a green field stretching from Lungotevere to Viale delle Milizie. Very soon, Piazza D’Armi will become a very popular place to visit for many Roman youngsters.
Olindo Bitetti talked about those days in his memories: “the sport pioneers were called stinky-feet and madmen from the intellectual of that époque. The ladies grieved at us running in shorts during the cold winter evenings; but we had no choice but training in the winter evening to prepare for the competitions taking place in the spring, since we had to work or study during the day.
Our passion brought us to the club’s locker rooms, some poor basement in the Prati quarter, where we would prepare for the training, our theet chattering with cold; then we would come back at the end of the session, steaming tiredness and enthusiasm”. At the Società Sportiva Lazio also the swimmers had to face the rigor of the winter: “Already in April, the swimmers would reach the cold Tiber to prepare for the first competitions, in July”.
Bitetti also underlined the importance of Bigiarelli for that group of youngsters: “we showed to Bigiarelli the same devotion that the religious showed to the Saints”.
But how did the passion for sports start in Bigiarelli? More than one hundred years later, the diary of the Lazio’s founder offers precious answers. It’s the “Rome’s birthday” when the conversion of Bigiarelli takes place, apparently caused by a love’s disillusion. “21 April 1889.
"My love has left for Bruxelles and my habits have changed. I do not know what to do anymore, I do not know where to go, and reaching those places where I spent beautiful moments with her does not ease my pain; everything bothers me, I even avoid my friends. In order to give a shock to my life and to avoid those places that made me recall of her, I’ve decided to abandon the gallant life, the walks, and the elegant coffees. I will change this life with sport exercises that, apart from distracting my mind, will tire me so that I will be able to sleep at night”.
A love ends... Lazio's history begins
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The exercises start on April 27 1889: “training done, short fast run, good results”. The trainings become tougher and tougher, for Bigiarelli was testing the possibilities of his body, which could benefit from the hard military trainings. The results are immediately surprising when he tries the chilometer, a few days later: “first training: 3’14”; second training: 3’23”; third training: 3’12”; fourth training: 3’09”” During the summer Bigiarelli turns to swimming: “distances measured by myself: from Teverone to Acqua Acetosa 2.200 meters; from Acqua Acetosa to Ponte Mollo 1.800 meters; from Ponte Mollo to Ponte Margherita 3.600 meters”.
“5 October 1889. I run 700 meters in 114”; got the idea to found a podistic club named Società Podistica Romana”
So the dream begins. The last page of the diary talks about the meeting where the idea Lazio had certainly been discussed: “31 December. We went together to a nice place in the fields to have lunch. Very nice atmosphere”. In less than one year from is birth, Lazio is already turning the first page of its history book.
The founder Luigi Bigiarelli moves to Belgium, never to return. Behind this decision, the desire to follow his brother, who moved there earlier to work as goldsmith; as well as a few clashes with other Lazio members. In 1902, a French newspaper writes about an Italian guy winning the 30 km marathon in the Fiandre, with the total time of 2 hours and 28 minutes. He is wearing a white and pale-blue jersey. His name is Luigi Bigiarelli. He was however not new to incredible deeds: only a few months earlier he had been running from Roma to Firenze in 2 days and 19 hours: 700 km run with only a pause during the night! The news of the great victory of the Fiandre marathon, reported by the Gazzetta dello Sport, is unfortunately the last one before the premature death of the young Lazio athlete. Luigi Bigiarelli will die a few years later because of a lung infection, at the age of 25. The victory of the Marathon was indeed his spiritual testament, whose echoe had reached the proud shores of the river Tiber. In Rome, the dream of Bigiarelli is soon becoming a reality. Lazio opens to other sports, such as rowing and swimming. Then, to something completely unknown: Rome is about to discover an incredibly fascinating sport. In January 1901, an odd guy just arrived from Paris knocks at the Lazio office’s door, in Via Valadier. Bruno Seghettin, an Italian immigrant to France and member of the Paris Racing Club, takes out from his bag a leather ball: the first football seen in Rome. Immediately afterwards, Bruno and the enthusiast Lazio guys are already in Piazza D’Armi, to discover together the new game. Lazio has just started his greatest adventure in history.