The two young Italian girls who went viral for hitting across rooftops have been nominated for the Laureus Sporting Moment of the Year. The tennis moment is one of six contenders for the most inspiring in sport.
Last April, 13-year-old Vittoria and 11-year-old Carola rallied on roofs in Finale Ligura, Italy during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown. The clip enraptured audiences around the globe.
“During quarantine we decided to try to have a [rally] between a rooftop and another,” Vittoria said.
“But we didn’t think this video would go viral,” added Carola.
In July, Roger Federer surprised the two friends by crashing one of their interviews. The trio played roof tennis, snapped a lot of selfies and enjoyed pasta for lunch.
The Laureus Sporting Moment Award started in 2016 to honor the most inspirational and unique moment of the year. Past winners include the FC Barcelona Under 12 team (2017) for consoling their opponents after winning the World Challenge Cup, the Brazilian Chapecoense (2018) for returning to football after a plane crash, and Chinese double amputee Xia Boyu (2019) for reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
Federer, On The Roof, Surprises Rally Sensations
Voting is open until May 6 when the winner will be revealed at the Laureus Awards Show (virtually) in Seville, Spain.
Four tennis players are up for Laureus awards this year, including Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek.