“Boia chi molla” wrote Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon in his Instagram story. This slogan, which can be translated as “He who gives up is a traitor”, is considered fascist in Italy. Before becoming a motto of the Italian fascist regime, these words were among others used by certain officers linked to the Italian Beams in 1919, a fascist party created by Benito Mussolini.
Suffice to say that the story has no more in Italy, although it has been deleted. The swimmer, three-time medalist at the last World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka regretted his message: “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding and I have something very important to clarify, taking responsibility for my inexperience. I did not know the historical connotations of the sentence I wrote and I dissociate myself from all its political and ideological meanings.