At just 17 years old, Sara Curtis will be one of the youngest Italian athletes at the Paris Olympics. However, her importance is not only sporting. It is also social, as the teenager being one of the few black swimmers makes her a role model.

She has been compared to former Olympic and world champion Federica Pellegrini for her performances in the pool. She was raised by an Italian father and Nigerian mother in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy. Race, ethnicity and identity are key political battlegrounds. 

Racist abuse of athletes is a problem in a country now led by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni. However Curtis, winner of four gold medals at the European Junior Championships, told AFP she was not worried about being singled out in her sport. "I consider myself lucky. I've never experienced anything like that (racist abuse)," said Curtis.

"However, if I ever met someone who saw my background as a problem, I wouldn't pay much attention. It wouldn't make much difference to me because it's not my problem, it's theirs. 

"However, honestly, it's not something that worries me too much. They can say whatever they want, that I'm a black girl, that it's strange. But it's weird for you, not for me," she said.

Curtis's life has been closely linked to the water. Her parents took her to the pool very early on, when she was just two years old. She remembers her early days with some irony. "The only thing I remember from my childhood is that it was really cold and I hated it, to be honest," jokes Curtis.

She is currently one of Italy's brightest swimming prospects. In March, she qualified for the Olympic Games with a European junior record of 24.56 seconds in the 50 metres freestyle. At the same time, she set a new Italian record. She beat the 24.72 seconds set by Silvia Di Pietro, who is 14 years older than Curtis, at the 2022 European Championships in Rome.

A month later, Curtis set a world junior record in the short-course backstroke with a time of 26.08 seconds. This was 0.05 seconds faster than the mark set by American Olivia Smoliga, the 2016 Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion. "I didn't expect it at all... I thought I would have a mediocre time in April. I was feeling good... It was really unexpected because it was a very fast time. I was flying, it was really great," said Curtis.

She does not want to talk about her chances at Paris 2024. Given her age, the French Games will come on the way to Los Angeles 2028, which is her ultimate goal.

"My goal is to develop, both physically and mentally, because the Olympics have always been a dream for me," she said.
"This year's Olympics was a goal, but one that I really thought was a long way off. Just to be there will be brilliant.

She is aware that it is too early given her age, but she is a great competitor and doesn't want to give up. She said: "Maybe it's a bit early to think about winning a medal. I have a bigger goal in mind, but for now a semi-final or a final could be something to aim for."

In Italy's turbulent times of recent years, Curtis doesn't understand, and even finds funny, cases and people like Roberto Vannacci, an Italian army general, who said in his bestselling book 'The World Upside Down' that volleyball star Paola Egonu, whose parents are Nigerian, has features that "don't represent Italian-ness".

It is so strange that Vannacci was named last month as a candidate for Italy's hard-right League party in June's European Parliament elections, despite being the subject of three separate investigations, including one for allegedly inciting racial hatred.

"When I hear comments like that, it makes me laugh, to be honest. It makes you think we're a bit behind the times (in Italy)," Curtis said. "Hoowever, what a sportsman does is independent of the colour of his skin. Those comments don't affect me. They never will."