Caterina Banti in Trieste

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Caterina Banti brought her experience to the Barcolana as part of the ‘Women in Sailing by Generali and Barcolana’ project, which aims to inspire young women to take up any profession and challenge, because there are no ‘male’ or ‘female’ jobs, neither at sea nor on land.

“I ended up in mixed sailing by chance,” Banti explained. “I have always sailed with a male – I started sailing with my brother and then continued my sporting career, still sailing with a man, on Nacra17. The disparity in physical strength between men and women is scientifically documented. However, if we say that men are stronger, we can also say that women have more endurance. We need to take the focus away from the concept of strength, simply because physical strength can be compensated for with expertise and training.

Over these eight years of Olympic campaigns, it is difficult to count my days off – I have trained so much, because I had to be the strongest and toughest bowman of all, men and women alike.

The desire to win is not for males only. It’s just that males show it in a more apparent way, through highly physical competition. Any crew’s real strength is actually balance – a crew cannot exist just on paper, you need to have a balance between the personalities of the two components, regardless of whether they are male or female. Men and women have different ways of expressing themselves, and this is a great strength. It is not that the woman has to do the things that the man does and vice versa, they complement each other as a team, enhancing each other's strengths. Ruggero Tita and I won two Olympic gold medals by being both very competitive in two different ways – we express ourselves differently and that is why we complement each other.

Mixed sailing is a resource that can be an inspiration for any activity within society, and a great example that should be extended to the corporate environment or to any other context – communication is key. We need simple, effective, professional communication. Winning two Olympic gold medals has been our job for eight years, and it has all been based on a great determination to overcome obstacles, to find solutions or compromises, to overcome difficulties together, for the common goal.

To girls who want to improve their sports performance, we say, ‘Think about your endurance, not your physical strength. Work on your mental strength, your inner strength, because that is what will make the difference'."