Valentino Rossi may no longer be podium regular in MotoGP since his ill-fated switch in 2011 to Ducati (he has only two podiums and no wins), but he still is a highly popular rider, a racing legend, and his nine World titles can attest to that.
During last weekend’s Gran Premio d’Italia at Mugello, the FMI (Italian Motorcycle Federation ) presented Rossi with the Diploma d’Onore CONI (an honour diploma that is given to athletes by the Italian National Olympic Committee) relative to his ninth World championship title won in 2009 (yeah, bureaucracy is really slow in Italy and motorcycle racing isn’t an Olympic speciality).
The honour diploma follows that of the Collare d’Oro (golden collar award) that the former World Champion received when he won his first world title.
The Golden Collar Award is the highest award that the Italian Olympic Committee bestowes to athletes and is awarded only once during the career of each athlete and the honour diplomas are given only to those who have already received the previous one.