Olympics-Italian rower's father pedals to Paris for charity

By Lucien Libert

PARIS (Reuters) - Italian rower Luca Chiumento is in Paris preparing for the quadruple sculls at the Olympic Games, and his father arrived from Italy by bicycle on Thursday, raising money for charity in the process.

A group of 23 began the trip, averaging 120 kilometres per day as they crossed the Alps, Austria, Switzerland and France, and after 12 days of pedalling they arrived in the French capital, where the Games' opening ceremony takes place on Friday.

"It was a great feeling. We arrived, we hugged each other. Someone shed tears. It was a touching moment," Enzo Chiumento, Luca's father, told Reuters.

"There were a lot of emotions. Everyone had their reasons to come here. One of our members had a son who was admitted to the paediatric hospital."

The charity, "Citta della Speranza", City of Hope, is a foundation from Padova which began 30 years ago, and has built and supports a paediatric haematology hospital in the Italian city. Enzo was one of eight riders who completed the journey.

"It was a great experience. It was a great friendship. We didn't know each other before. It was organised spontaneously. Those who thought they could do it came to us," Enzo said.

"And so we are here. The Olympic Games was the right occasion. My son will compete in the quadruple sculls. We accompanied our athletes all the way to Paris.

"The goal of the fund raising for the City of Hope was one of two reasons, it was almost the main reason."

Now that the goal has been achieved, Enzo can concentrate on supporting his son when the quadruple sculls begins on Saturday, an event in which Luca won gold at the 2022 European Championships.

(Writing by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Toby Davis)