words by Carol King
Italy finished 13th in the medal table at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Athletes took home nine gold, eight silver and 11 bronze medals. It was a strong showing from the Italian team of 98 athletes, who competed in 12 sports.
Of the gold-medal winners former Formula One racing driver Alessandro ‘Alex’ Zanardi attracted particular attention. He lost both legs in a racing-car accident in Germany in 2001 but the Paralympics saw him return to Brands Hatch where he first competed as a Formula 3000 driver although he had never handcycled there. Zanardi went on to gain a gold medal in the Men’s Individual H4 Time Trial and then raised his bike, one-handed, above his head in triumph. He also won a gold in the Individual H4 Road Race followed by silver in the Men’s Mixed H1-4 Team Relay. Zanardi was flag bearer during the Paralympics closing ceremony and said his first win at the Games was “one of the greatest of my life.”
Annalisa Minetti
Previously best known to Italians as a singer, Annalisa Minetti set a new world record for her class in the Women’s 1500m T12, winning a bronze medal. Minetti lost her sight entirely due to illness at the age of 18 and first came to public attention when she entered Miss Italia in 1997. She went on to forge a career as a singer and won the Festival di Sanremo (Sanremo Music Festival) in 1998 with her song Senza te o con te.
Cecilia Camellini
Other strong showings came from Assunta Legnante, who scooped up Italy’s first athletics gold of the Paralympics with a new world record in the Women’s Shot Put F11/12. Swimmer Cecilia Camellini won two gold medals in world-record time, the Women’s 50m and 100m Freestyle S11, as well as two bronze medals. The flag bearer at the Paralympics opening ceremony, Oscar De Pellegrin, gained his first individual gold medal in archery for the Men’s Individual Recurve W1/W2. Martina Caironi won gold in athletics for the Women’s 100m T42, and Roberto Bargna and Ivano Pizzi in cycling.
Oscar de Pellegrin
Italy has participated in every Paralympic Games since the inaugural event in Rome in 1960 and Paralympians have made great strides in sport since. Four-time Paralympian Luca Pancalli competed for Italy in the Games from 1984 to 1996, winning 15 medals for swimming. He was named president of the Italian Paralympic Committee in 2000, before becoming the first disabled person to be appointed vice- president of the Italian National Olympic Committee.
