“This kid won’t go away anymore.” Sergio Alfonsini, national pitching coach, looked out at the park track Berduc and remembered the power of Nazareno Sasia. With just 15 years of age, 1.90 meters and 100 kilos, he filled all the boxes to dedicate himself serious about athletics. There was only one doubt for Alfonsini: if that rough diamond was willing to go through the 51 kilometers that separate his native Cerrito (a town in Entre Ríos with just seven thousand inhabitants) from the training center located in Paraná.
Sasia had arrived at Berduc Park by the hand of Marcelo Borghello, the man who saw him at age 13 shooting basketball At the Cerrito Sports Center, he invited him to athletics school and became its first coach. The one that after an initial contact with the javelin, it was teaching the secrets of two tests ideal for your physique, bullet and discus. The one who made contact with Alfonsini to receive them in the Berduc Park.
Before, from 5 to 12, Nazareno had played soccer and been a defender in Unión Agrarios. But he had also been through mini track and field. Borghello, what died in September 2020 due to the coronavirus, noticed its potential and took it to tournaments. He was his guide until he was 14, after he won the National Cadets in Chaco With a record included and he will achieve the title of his category in the Evita Games in Mar del Plata, in bullet. At 20, with 1.94 meters and 135 kilos, he is one of the greatest promises of Argentine sports.
“Marcelo brought him to Paraná in March 2016. I had not seen him compete. He was a boy with the optimal physique, tall and coordinated. Our eyes bulged when we performed the first evaluations with people from the Confederacy. It remained to discover what was inside that head. We were immediately surprised by your commitment to do 50 kilometers every day. He came to training even in the rain and brought a barbaric motivation, ”says Alfonsini.
Since mid-2016, began daily trips from Cerrito to Paraná and focused on preparing for the Youth Olympic Games, that would take place two years later in Buenos Aires. I know He got up at 5, arrived at Parque Berduc at 7.30, worked with Alfonsini until 11, he took the bus at the terminal and returned to his town at noon. In the afternoon the school was waiting for him. Such an effort was going to pay off. But He couldn’t even go to the graduate trip …
At that time the taste of meet Germán Lauro, the highest historical representative of our country in bullet, finalist in the London 2012 Games and seventh in the Moscow World Cup 2013. He is the role model for Sasia. The coach who trained Trenque Lauquen, Carlos Llera, one day he traveled to Paraná and observed Nazareno Slowly. Consequence? A change in his throwing technique, going from linear to rotational, spinning like a disc and looking for a higher performance.
The process was not that easy. From the outset, in a Grand Prix at CeNARD, he ended up with six missed pitches and that filled his future with questions. However, he respected Llera’s decision and he followed the routine with Alfonsini, until he hooked the technique. At the 2017 South American Youth Games in Santiago de Chile, his first trip abroad started with a gold medal in discus and then climbed to the top of the podium in bullet. The 20.45 meters even surprised the organizers: they only had a 20 meter tape to measure.
In Buenos Aires 2018 his claim to fame. The 21.94 meter throw on the opening day secured him the gold medal at the Games, marked a South American youth record and left it first in the world rankings. “It has a lot of projection. He is going to become a very good athlete at the international level. Physically is bigger than me, “said Lauro, who accompanied him during the competition and gave him some advice.
In front of the television camera Sasia dedicated the triumph to her grandmother and also fulfilled a bet with Julio Piñero, another of his coaches: “Greetings to Juan Román Riquelme.” The idol of Boca, the club of his loves, congratulated Nazareno for the medal and sent him a national team shirt. But the popularity affected the 17-year-old, so much that he preferred return to Cerrito at dawn without notifying anyone, get into your house and regain peace of mind. A taste of his low profile.
Already competing as Sub 20, in 2019 He was the South American champion in Cali and in 2020 he broke the national record in Paraná, with a throw of 20.46 meters. This action had a special value because during the quarantine by Covid-19 he had been forced to modify your workouts, receiving directions from Alfonsini through his cell phone and using elements from the Cerrito athletics school.
In May of this 2021, he debuted in a South American senior and stomped in Guayaquil: with Lauro’s company as team leader, he won the silver medal with 19.79 meters. Besides breaking the Argentine record Sub 23 of Germán (19.78 in 2006), that was his best production with the seven-kilo bullet and left him in second place in the permanent national ranking, behind the 21.26 reached by Trenque Lauquen in 2013 during the Doha Diamond League.
“The virtue of Nazareno is his head. Has competitive aggressiveness. In tournaments he always shoots more than in training. Enjoy that moment more than anything. The same thing happened with Lauro. That’s it gold powder and it makes a difference ”, Alfonsini assures. The most recent demonstration was the Sudamericano Sub 23 de Octubre, in Guayaquil, where he contributed the only Argentine gold with its 19.11 meters in bullet and then he added a bronze medal with his 55.24 on disk.
There are several stopovers scheduled for Sasia before ordering runway at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This season will close with the first edition of the Junior Pan American Games in Cali (from November 25 to December 5). In 2022, in May it will have the Iberoamericano de Huelva and in October it will be presented at the Odesur de Asunción, while in 2023 he will point to the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile.
The work in Parque Berduc is currently being complemented with the mentored by Carlos Burón, a renowned Spanish coach, that took athletes to the last eight Olympic Games and twice received the Argentine promise in León. The plan? What a nazarene begin to insert yourself in the global context, Take on the best shot putters and accumulate the necessary experience for your age.
Alfonsini bets everything to his manager: “The goal is to be in an Olympic final. We have the raw material. Having Germán close by is a great help. Surely he suffers the adaptation to the seven kilos bullet and his growth goes through a plateau at some point, but There are two Games ahead, so first we must look for the brand to go to compete in Paris 2024. I’m going to try to get it as far as possible ”. Much more than from Cerrito to Paraná …
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