In the middle of the exam session, our SportLab Milano team disturbed Serena Troiani!
Our Athlete was about to prepare a simple, simple exam: "Decision-making in the Forensic Area" (Help!) < br> Ready to find out more about her?
Let's do a little intro, then let her answer our questions.
Serena is 25 and has 2 twin sisters, Alexandra and Virginia! Together with them she has a passion for athletics, they have been competing for 13 years now, becoming real professionals!
< b> You train with your sisters, how important is it for you to team up on and off the pitch?
I would say that it is very important because it is a constant stimulus and constant support, so it has more positive sides: on the one hand the ability to always encourage each other, as we are also very competitive; therefore, we bring out the best in us, especially when the days come when you are down and the others help you to bring out the best.
And then from a human point of view you have the security of having someone you know who understands you even without needing to talk, someone to let off steam with and rely on, someone who lightens the load between training, daily life and study.
Did you all three started together or did one start first and the others joined?
Virginia started first, all three of us practiced karate because we always did all three the same sports.
We were in middle school and the one who is our current coach, Vittorio Ramaglia, had talked to our ed professors. physics and advised him to try athletics, so Virginia wanted to try and Alexandra and I followed her and fell in love with athletics.
What other sports besides karate and athletics have you done? smaller because our mother played basketball, so she tried to see if we could follow in her footsteps but we weren't very good, then Alexandra and I did ballet but we weren't very good there too, so then we landed on the dance floor.
So your days are pretty much full, what's your daily routine?
They are quite similar in routine, Alexandra is more early risers, I like to sleep a little more, then we take the semester's lessons or we study. Then we have lunch and in the afternoon we either study or give repetitions.
Then from 18 to 20 / 20.30 we train in the field, except two days a week when we train at lunchtime. Then twice a week I go to train some boys in a field near my house.
Nice! What is it like to train teenagers? In short, the new generation!
Well, that's cool. I had never trained before, but I have to say that seeing the guys who come there and work hard is satisfying. It's tiring but it loads you up.
Did you bring any of them to compete?
Not yet because I have just started, so they haven't competed yet, I will accompany them in the spring / summer period.
What are you a specialist in athletics?
I do 400m and 800m, but I am more specialized on 800m. Together with Virginia and Ilaria, I also do the relay so I also do short distances.
When did you start pro? Already in middle school or later?
In middle school there is no category of professionals, so it depends a lot on the person and perseverance.
When we were younger sometimes we preferred to do something else and didn't go.
Crescendo then our coach has always pushed us a lot and has always believed a lot in us. so he made us passionate more and more and we put more and more effort into it and we reached a practically professional level.
What is your sports association?
We train for the CUS Pro Patria Milano, but we train in Busto Arsizio; in fact, we started at Pro Patria A.R.C. Busto Arsiziopatria, then when we became university we changed society.
The CUS Pro Patria Milano also has the university section and they offered us more opportunities for growth even at the corporate level so we changed clubs, but we always kept the same training location and the same coach as when we started.
What was the best and the worst moment in your career?
The best moment was this year's absolute Italian championships in which for the first time I won a medal on an individual level by winning the bronze in the 800 meters and winning the gold in the 4x400 relay and also doing the best performance Italian company on distance.
The ugliest one?
It was this winter when, for only 2 cents, I missed the call-up to the absolute European indoor championships.
Who were also for qualifying for the Olympics?
They were valid as a race because they gave you points that could be used for the ranking for the Olympics.
It must have been bad, but this has certainly given you the opportunity to grow even more!
As your goal for this 2022, what have you set yourself?
The goal, like that of any athlete, is to improve oneself, to challenge and win this challenge against oneself, but concretely the objective of this year is the participation in the absolute European outdoor championships in Monaco, which will be held in August.
So let's cross our fingers! Is this your only goal?
My sisters have set themselves this mid-year goal too!
Since we're talking, do you have superstitious rituals?
No, I'm not a very superstitious person but I suffered a lot from performance anxiety before the races, in fact, I have been doing a sport psychology course for six years now to manage this problem.
In this path I learned some pre-race routines to maintain concentration and transform anxiety into something that is functional to the race and that does not harm me, very focused on the sensations, on the imagination of the race, on breathing, listening always a lot of music while warming up to charge me up.
I think therapeutic paths are very useful, whether they are personal or sports in your case, they are unfortunately underestimated.
Since you are not superstitious, then I ask you for your SPORTCARE and if you use creams or something in general before or after the race, if you have a physiotherapist to help you etc ..
As products I have never used much before or after the race, but since I discovered those of SportLAB Milano I always use them, in fact I have improved my SPORTCARE.
Since this winter, which I have done the first fields, I have used the WARMUP CREAM , which was tested and approved immediately. Then after training the COOLDOWN CREAM and the FEET RELAX , especially because in recent years I had problems with fatigue of the feet and calves, however I didn't care much for it, but now with this possibility I notice the difference and a nice change.
For the physiotherapist, all three of us are followed by a chiropractor from Milan, Alessandro Maniero. Then before the race we do an ionization course to prepare for the race .
And Alessandro follows us step by step even during training and during competitions to see if there are posture problems or other.
Thus creating ad hoc workouts for you?
It is very important especially for us who have back problems
I ask you the last thing, which trophy would you like to win in your career?
My biggest dream and which I hope to achieve in the shortest time possible is to wear the blue jersey on an individual level in my specialty (therefore 800 meters), because I did a youth national team in which I was a reserve for the relay, but to dress it at individual level has that little bit extra!
We of the SportLAB Milano team wish you so and above all we will support you and your sisters in this personal and sporting growth, good luck for everything, especially for your exam session!