Paolo Bettini
The cyclist Paolo Bettini was born in Cecina, Italy in 1974. From an early stage in his athletic career they gave him the nickname "el Grillo" (the cricket), since he always tried to lead the race. For the first time he took part in the Olympic Games in 2000, without winning a medal. Since then he received several distinctions, so in the Athens Olympic Games he came as the favorite to win the race. Despite the difficult weather conditions -the intolerable heat forced many athletes to withdraw from the race before the finishing line- Bettini fought hard with the Portuguese Paulinho and won the gold medal with a difference of just a second. A little while after the Olympic Games he won the World Cup for a third time.