Ippolito Sanfrantello moved to Rollerblade

久しぶりにRollerbladeのHPを覗いたら・・・リニューアルされてました。２００６年冬季オリンピックのパシュート競技で金メダルに輝いたイタリアチームの１人、そして Team FILA のWICメンバーでもあった Ippolito Sanfrantello がProduct ManagerとしてRBに移籍。歓迎、インタビューのページがＲＢのホームページにUPされてます。

Ippolito Sanfrantello Welcome to Rollerblade Interview with Olympic Champion Ippolito Sanfrantello, Product Manager of Rollerblade.

Ippolito Sanfrantello is a well known name in the inline skating world along with now the ice skating world. Ippolito is a numerous time World inline Skating Champion and this year in torino, Italy he won a Gold medal in team pursuit at the Olympics. Ippolito has now joined the Rollerblade Family and is working for Rollerblade at the Head Quarters in Italy. Ippolito is a huge gain to Rollerblade and the upcoming seasons. It’s great to have him as part of the team and it’s great that he gaves some time to us for an interview. Welcome to Rollerblade the company and welcome to Rollerblade the family.

How is your life at the moment? Everything is fine. After the Olympics, I decided to quit speed skating to start a new life with an interesting job in Rollerblade. The gold medal gave me an additional push to start my future working, challenge with the same passion and the same motivation I had always put in sport for a long time. How did you hear about the Job in Rollerblade? A colleague who was working together with me in Fila skates told me about the job in Rollerblade. In Fila Skates we were a good team and so he has tried to bring part of that team also in Rollerblade: this is very important for me because it means that people who knew me and worked with me still trust a lot in my skills. What made you decide to join the Rollerblade Family? Mainly two experiences: first my past working experience and second the speed skating. I believe that the team work is an essential element to reach important goals. When I met for the first time the people in Rollerblade, I immediately had a good feeling. I knew most of them since a long time and this is the reason why I decided to join this new team and I think we will be able to do a good job all together. What is your role in Rollerblade? Product Manager How do you feel you will bring more new and exciting innovations to Rollerblade? Of course I’ll try to do my best and bring all my experience in the product. I think that most of the time the biggest innovation comes from small details that make the skates more and more “friendly” from the first time you try them. Do you enjoy to work in the inline scene and if so why? Inline Skating played an essential role for all my life and it helped me to reach all my goals: now to link my passion and my job will be a very nice and exciting experience. Now about the Ice Skating and the Olympics: Firstly what made you change from inline’s to Ice? I was 29, I was watching the 2002 Olympic Games on TV and I saw my old friend Derek Parra from USA on the podium. That day I had the feeling that it was my turn to start to follow my Olympic dream. Few months later I bought my first pair of Ice Skates and I started to train. What did it feel like crossing the finish line at the Olympics in the Team Pursuit knowing that you have won? In the last 30 meters I realized that I was going to be Olympic champion and in few seconds I saw in front of me the eyes of all the people that in the last years trusted in me and supported me. I couldn’t even think that it was happening to me for real. I saw all my life passing in front of my eyes. I felt thousands of different emotions in few seconds. What commitments did you have to make to be where you were on the Ice? The hardest part was to change completely my way of life in order to join the Italian team for training and racing all around the World. In the last three years I spent the 80% of my time with the team and I had to train very hard, often 6 hours a day. Sometimes I missed my family, my friends and my girlfriend….. How has being an Olympic Champion changed your life? Now many people, especially young kids, consider me as a point of reference: when they listen to my story and to my experience they get a lot of inspiration. Often I go to schools and meet children, students and teachers and I recognise that people look at me in a different way than before, they consider me a positive example of how sport can turn someone’s life in a better way. What is the best part of being an Olympic Champion? Now I can talk to people and tell them that sometimes dreams become reality. Thanks to this gold medal I can face my future challenges with a new mentality and with a positive attitude. I think that the passion and the trust in the people around me and in myself will help me to reach my new goals. Do you think that being Olympic Champion has helped you gain more knowledge on technologies and innovations to help you with your job? I would say that the ice experience taught me to be more and more focused on the details which make the difference between a good athlete and a champion. The same thing happens with the products: if you take care of the details you can develop a better skate and bring it to a higher level. Thanks so much Ippolito. Congratulations on all your success throughout the years and of course of your Olympic Gold medal. July 01, 2006

A World Champion At The Cali 2007 World Championship’s International Seminar

The Roller Speed Skating champion, Ice Speed Skating Olympic champion, and many times European and Italian champion, Ippolito Sanfratello, has confirmed his participation as speaker in the International Seminar that will be held from August 10th to 14th at the World Championship's host city, Cali.

Ippolito Sanfratello, 34, and current manger of the Italian Skating Federation, is a renowned speaker due to his trajectory, knowledge and many accomplishments. He was Olympic Champion in Torino 2006, has won eight gold world championship medals, and currently holds the world record of the 1.000 meters.

One of the objectives of the International Seminar is to deepen the knowledge of sports training, particularly in speed skating. Identifying the biological, physiological, and morphological characteristics of the skaters and the means needed to provide them with the best sports training available; and to establish and develop the necessary methodologies to begin in this sport with the aim of a high performance level.

Ippolito Sanfratello belongs to a select group of speakers that have been invited to participate in the five-day theoretic - practical seminar by the Colombian Skating Federation, as a preamble to the Cali 2007 World Roller Speed Skating Championships. The International Seminar, which offers the state of the art methodologies to train the most award winning sport in Colombia, is aimed to coaches and sports trainers, teachers and instructors, sports training and college centers, that are interested in acquire methodologies, techniques and procedures used in roller speed skating.
Cali 2007: A World Champion At The Cali 2007 World Championship’s International Seminar