Italian Olympians 'insulted' by torch relay snub

"There is no respect for us champions," cross-country skier Silvio Fauner, a five-time Olympic medallist, told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview that echoed earlier complaints by Alpine skier Kristian Ghedina about the relay, which began in Rome on December 4.

Fauner complained that quiz show celebrity Gabriele Sbatella, known as the Uomo Gato (Cat Man), had been prefered.

"I consider this an incredible insult," said Fauner, who won gold as a member of the Italian relay team in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.

He said he was speaking on behalf of his Olympic team-mate Marco Albarello and Turin 2006 gold medallists Giorgio Di Centa, Cristian Zorzi and Pietro Piller Cottrer.

"We are all angry," Fauner said. "We have not been involved in any way in any initiative for the Winter Olympics in our country. No torchbearers, no ambassadors, no role whatsoever. Nothing."

"They preferred people from the entertainment world, such as Uomo Gatto, and singers who do not embody Olympic sport," Fauner said.

Ghedina made similar comments last month, but Fauner's statements triggered a reaction from politicians.

"The choice of torchbearers is incomprehensible and disconcerting. All the more so since it was not discussed with Matteo Salvini's Ministry of Transport, which has been more committed than anyone else to making the Games happen," wrote Salvini's far-right League party in a statement.

Sports Minister Andrea Abodi has asked the Milano-Cortina organising committee and the Italian Olympic Committee for "information to understand what the selection criteria were."

"In principle, it is obvious that sports legends, those who have made history, should be held in very high and absolute esteem. I too was a bit surprised,” said Abodi.

The torch will pass through the hands of 10,001 bearers across Italy on its two-month, 12,000-kilometre journey to the San Siro stadium in Milan for the opening ceremony on February 6.