ROME - Daisy Osakue, an Italian record-holder for under 23 discus throwing, was attacked on her return home in Moncalieri, police said on Monday. The 22-year-old Italian national, born in Turin with Nigerian parents, was injured after being in hit in the face by an egg thrown from a moving car. After being taken to the Oftalmico hospital in Turin an eye injury was reported and she underwent an operation.

 “It was a specific attack. They didn’t attack me as a person, as Daisy, they attacked me as a woman of colour,” said the victim on her exit from the hospital. “I have already been a victim of racist episodes, but up to now they have only been verbal. When these become physical another line is crossed. I have been officially Italian ever since I turned 18 and recently I have been representing Italy on a sporting level."

 According to a reconstruction of the incident sent out this morning Daisy was with a group of friends at the moment of the attack. The police, who are currently working to identify both the car driver and the passengers, have now released that the 22-year-old was crossing the street alone, followed by a group of people that rescued her. Investigators have reported that the car from which the egg came from, a Fiat Doblò, has already been reported in the preceding days in the city; other eggs have been thrown at pedestrians from the vehicle.

 Now the young athlete’s career could suffer a setback and her participation in the European championships in Berlin is at risk. However, she is optimistic; “Luckily it was only grazing. A few days of rest and I should be fine. The world could collapse but I am definitely going to Berlin; I will go with the team and compete on Thursday.”

 Political responses came immediately. “Daisy Osakue is an Italian champion,” the ex-prime minister and leader of Italy's democratic party, Matteo Renzi, wrote on twitter. “Yesterday she was savagely hit by disgusting racists. We are in a state of emergency in terms of attacks against people with coloured skin. Today its evident, no one can deny it; especially if you back the government. Italy, we must become human again.”

 Pippo Civati, the founder of left-wing political party Posibile, called out Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini after he denied two days ago the existence of a high-racism threat in Italy. “Salvini says that his vision isn’t like Trump’s in the United States and he’s right. His vision is seventy’s Alabama, topped off with fascist rhetoric, endless lies and words that come from the darkest period of Italy’s recent history.”

 M5S also condemns the incident as “an indecent attack that we condemn strongly; whoever carried it out should feel shame in front of everyone in our country. Italy refutes and punishes these unspeakable acts. We want this person that threw an egg at a woman on the street to be identified and punished as soon as possible. Investigators will search for the motive, but an incident like this should never happen.” The words appeared in a notice signed by the head of the M5S to the Senate.

 cb