Diana Saliceti is the ambassador for the 2026 Adventure Race World Championships; she shares this role with trail runner Guillaume Peretti. Born in Ajaccio, this Corsican artist grew up between the city and the wild highlands of the island’s interior. A singer, journalist, farmer, and horseback rider, in September 2026 she will be the voice of the ARWC 2026 for two fleeting moments. She embodies what the Corsicans call “u versu”: that unique way of singing with one’s whole soul. It’s a quality Diana has possessed ever since, as a child in the mountain villages, she heard the polyphonic harmonies echoing and found the singers to be superhuman.
After studying humanities and earning a master’s degree in comparative literature in Spain, Ireland, Quebec, and Corsica, the young woman began working in the media. Trained in polyphonic singing with groups such as A Scola di u Cantu and U Filu d’Amparera, she set out to create her own work: a repertoire in the Corsican language rooted in the polyphonic tradition, with a touch of modernity. The Ajaccio native competed twice in the Eurovision Contest for Minority Languages, in 2008 and 2012. And in 2015, her album *Forse* firmly established her as one of the island’s must-hear voices. In just a few years, without trying too hard, Diana Saliceti has established herself as a key figure in the island’s music scene.
Then came COVID-19. And with it, not a halt, but a new direction. The local native started an agricultural business in Porto Pollo—L’Orca Agri-cultura & Cavalli—combining olive oil production, beekeeping, and the breeding of Corsican horses, and settled permanently in this southern village, which had become the center of her life. Horses hold a special place in her life: animals of sport and spirit, companions with whom communication goes beyond words. It is through them that she reconnects with her ancestors, climbing to an altitude of 1,000 meters, where her family once spent their summers between the mountain pastures and the sky. At 38, she is working on a new album, *So Tessuta* (I Am Woven), expected by the end of the year. Woven by Corsica, her encounters, her travels, and a musical universe that embraces folk, rock, and electronic music, without ever betraying her roots.
It is this Diana whom the ARWC 2026 has invited to perform at the event’s two most symbolic moments. For the opening ceremony in Corte, she will sing “U Mio Paese” (In My Country), a song born in the mountains, inspired by the beauty of Corsica’s highlands. This choice resonates perfectly with what the 400 athletes are about to experience: entering a new land, with all the respect and humility that this entails.
For the closing ceremony, the event’s patron will offer something even more intimate: the Corsican anthem, accompanied by a small harp.
After days of hard work and sleepless nights, it will be a moment of reflection, as Corsica says thank you to those who have crossed it.
Diana Saliceti says it herself: she sees singing as a special bond with the people of her homeland. For the duration of two songs, she will also forge that bond with runners from around the world. Corsica is magic. The singer will offer something that neither the stopwatch nor the rankings can measure: the soul of a land.