Boston, the story of Gabriele Rosa

“At 200 meters from me everything flew”

Gabriele Rosa is one of the most famous racing coaches in the world. He is in Boston, a few meters from the explosion, with his team. One of her athletes, the Kenyan Rita Jeptoo, had just won the marathon for the second time when the explosion occurred. His story is from a downtown hotel, the Fairmont Copley Plaza, a historic hotel now isolated and surrounded by police.

“The tension is very high, we are here in the hotel with two hundred athletes and coaches, we don’t know what will happen. We are astonished, appalled”. Rosa is proven, like all those who are experiencing these dramatic moments, words come out with difficulty. “The race had been good, it had taken place regularly and Rita had won with an excellent performance, she had closed in 2 hours 26’25”. We had just returned to the hotel waiting for the ceremonies and the party “. Party that turned into tragedy.

“The explosion took place two hundred meters from where we are now. There was a lot of people in the area, the seats, the flags, everything that belongs to the finish line of the marathon. Now who knows what will happen, everything has been suspended, we are closed in the hotel, they even told us to stay in the rooms so as not to create further confusion in a delicate moment. Rosa continues the story. “We are isolated, the police have created a cordon around us. They have blocked everything, even the phones. I had mine son Federico, who is in my staff, from another part of the city, we couldn’t hear each other, the phones were mute. Then, fortunately, communications were resumed for a few minutes. They told us that more bombs could explode. There is the fear of a new attack “.

Communication becomes difficult. There is just space for one last consideration before the line disappears.” There is a compound panic. No one knows how to behave, what to do. Let’s wait, here at the hotel. We hope that nothing else will happen “.

(April 15th 2013)