Garmin Beat Yesterday Awards 2022: the prizes for courage and resilience

Sport is never just sport. It carries with it a whole range of values that are intangible assets, both for those who play it and for those who are spectators. Often sport is a real engine for rebirth, and it is with this in mind that Garmin has established its annual Garmin Beat Yesterday Awards, which receive more and more nominations each year: this year there were more than a thousand projects that came in for selection, and in total, over seven years, there have been more than 10,000 stories screened by the brand. 10,000 people whose lives have been changed by sports is an impressive number, just as impressive are the stories of the five winners of this edition: from ironman to cycling, from sailing to trail running via the passion of driving trucks.

«Seven years of Beat Yesterday Awards means seven years of incredible stories and tales to which Garmin has given an extraordinary voice, a voice they otherwise would not have had. We like to think that the spotlight on the Beat Yesterday stage never goes out, that the stories continue to be told and that the protagonists carry them on day after day, even once the party is over» began Stefano Viganò, CEO of Garmin Italia.

«Garmin does so many things: it participates in an impressive number of events, supports organizations, oversees projects and, certainly not least of all, studies innovative solutions every day to make the lives of those who choose to rely on us healthier and more balanced. The Beat Yesterday Awards are the best way to say goodbye to each year as it comes to a close, and I’m honored to be able to honor extraordinary stories again this year that I’m sure will excite you as much as they have excited us».

The five winners were honored by sports idols in their respective fields: Olympic gold medalist marcher Antonella Palmisano, mountaineer Simone Moro, cyclists Elia Viviani, Filippo Ganna and Marco Villa, and singer-songwriter Ghemon. We spoke with two of the winners, from the best stories: Cristina Nuti and Sabrina Schillaci.

«The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis came in 2008, but it wasn’t until 2016 that I really started running after a series of personal events that had challenged me quite a bit: I had lost both my job and my loved ones, and I really needed to get back in the game. I started joining running groups almost as a joke, from there then came the first marathon, in 2017, and then nine more after that. Doctors were telling me to conserve myself as much as possible, but physically I was better, I could see that it helped me a lot and so I continued with running until I stumbled upon Triathlon, but it was in 2021 that I found my true passion: the ironman» Cristina, class of 1972, tells«After doing the half in the same year, this year, in 2022 I finally completed the full and the long distance became my absolute love. However, the most significant thing for me is that I did not know how to swim until 2019: that year I learned and that same year I did my first Triathlon. I am very fortunate, I have constant pains, but I can move very well, I don’t want to be disrespectful to those who are less fortune than me, but I want to pass the message that sport has helped me a lot in being well, as well as mentally, on a physical level».

«My life changed in 2007 when my husband as a result of diving into the lake became a quadriplegic. He had completely rejected it and did not want to react, and I had fallen into depression. The turning point came in 2012, during a weekend done to try to recover our relationship in which I ran into an Ironman race. I started training and in 2015, having finished my first half ironman, my husband started driving again to take charge of his life» Sabrina opens up. «Finding myself at 40 years old having to throw away all the dreams I had for life was hard, but all the anger I had felt for years turned into gratitude. So I decided to tell my story and design some cycling challenges: the first was to go from Besana Brianza, where I live, to Santiago de Compostela by bicycle, which was the ultimate for me: I didn’t know how to pedal properly to do this kind of thing. The first two days 50 people left with me, including my husband, while another girl and I made it, 18 days later, all the way to Santiago».