"Come On, Benedetta!" "You Got It, Champ!"

Wednesday and Friday afternoons are my favorite because I go to the gym for rhythmic gymnastics. My teacher Camilla is really good—almost as good as me. I listen to her, so I do the exercises well and get better. I love doing handstands and cartwheels, and then I have fun doing choreography with my friends. Each of us has a part that Camilla gives us. But some steps are the same for everyone, and we have to be careful to do them together, watching each other. I love that part. Saturday mornings I play soccer with my team, AS Roma. I'm a forward and I score tons of goals. And I say "take that!" to the goalie. The coaches yell at me to go back on defense, but I get tired running and I always stay up front. I like playing near the sideline because it's shady and I don't sweat as much. Sometimes I go to the stadium with my teammates to watch Roma play, even though they never win. What can you do? I should be the one playing! The sport I love most is track and field—running and jumping. I have so many friends who are champions with the Fiamme Gialle and go to the Olympics. Margherita Magnani runs fast and I really like her. I like Giulia Alessandra too. When I see them on TV I cheer for them and yell "Maggiee Magnaniiiiii!" I'm best friends with Filippo Tortu and Gimbo Tamberi, who does the high jump—I mean really high. He teaches me how to jump and tells me not to knock the bar down. I just duck under instead. He goes over, but that's way harder. I like sports because I never get bored. It's always something new. I never do it alone, but always with someone, so I laugh and meet tons of new friends, especially when I go with Dad to marathons. Everyone's crazy, they give me kisses and high-fives and say "come on, Benedetta," and I say back "you got it, champ!"