The Tsar talks about himself on the podcast “Passa dal basement” in which he reveals his bitterness at not being called up to Paris and his desire to get back into the game for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Ivan Zaytsev hasn’t finished writing his Olympic story yet. The Italian volleyball player continues to look at the five hoops as a goal to be achieved and after having seen the possibility of being in Paris slip through his fingers, he now aims to arrive in Los Angeles in 2028, with his new ambition: the beach volley.
Zaytsev: Paris 2024 disappointment
During the podcast “Passa dal basement”, I Zar spoke of his disappointment at Fefè De Giorgi’s failure to be called up to the Italy squad for Paris 2024: “I thought I could still be useful to the cause, because I’m physically well as demonstrated by the victory in the Beach Volleyball championship. Also because there are rumors about me, that I’m too old, injured, can’t jump and all this talk going around. I had a bad time because my idea was to have another Olympic experience. I understand the ideas of a coach who takes control of the team and makes a certain type of choice because he has a team idea in his head. I didn’t really agree with him, the content of the explanations made little sense but in the end you have to be able to accept things. But I don’t hold a grudge”.
The blue shirt in the heart
A double disappointment for Ivan Zaytsev who during his story also reveals the importance that the blue shirt has for him: “The national team has always been my dream, the first call-up was a beautiful thing because you realize that there are a lot of guys working hard to get there and you represent all of them. You are the one who makes it out of 1000 who tried. You have to respect the shirt for all those who didn’t make it”.
The Los Angeles dream
The disappointment, however, can now go in the drawer and focus on a new goal to be achieved, that of the 2028 Olympics but not on parquet but on sand. Zaytsev has in fact begun a new adventure in beach volleyball which has already given him a tricolor title: “There aren’t many players who want to get involved. The beach is a very tough sport, I returned to the sand thanks to a message from Daniele Lupo. It’s a project that has only one date, Los Angeles 2028. My spark has been rekindled, I was getting a bit bored with volleyball and instead everything started again. Winning the Italian title allows us to understand that we have great potential, I’m really excited by this idea. I want to try to reach the Olympics in a different sport and in volleyball only two people have managed it. But I want to have the awareness that I have given everything”.
Source: sport.virgilio.it
