Press release

London, Great Britain, August 1, 2012 - Among the many amulets carried by players and teams, a prominent place is occupied by Ennio. Ennio is a weightlifter, a small wooden puppet (the one with rubber bands inside you can move from a button on its base), just a few centimeters tall. It is – or we would better write “he” – the official mascot of the Italian men’s team.

The peculiarity of Ennio is that it is the only team mascot of London 2012 which has its own Twitter profile (@EnnioVolley) with more than 500 followers. Ennio, helped by the Italian team staff, is posting funny pictures, respecting the IOC rules and guidelines about social networks but succeeding in being always in the right place. Behind Ennio’s cult there’s a sad story. Ennio Barigelli was a trainer of the Italian team who didn’t join the team in Beijing and passed away two years after. “Ennio is a way to have him with us at the Olympics” reads the team’s official statement.

The fact is that the Azzurri and their staff take the mission seriously: Ennio is always in their pics, posing and then posting the pictures with strict captions. That’s why the Italian fans on twitter started to interact with it, posting praises and supports for the team directly on its Twitter page.