Gazzetta Sports Awards: Sabatini Paralympian of the Year

We never get tired of her, her example and her smile: Ambra Sabatini is the Paralympic athlete of the year. The seasonal highlight of the 21-year-old from Grosseto arrived on 13 July at the Charlety stadium in Paris, a preview of the Paralympics which will take place in the same city in just over eight months. That day, the financier won the world championship gold in the 100m category T63 (athletes with lower limb amputations), complete with an improved world record of 4/100m: up to 13″98, with a barrier of 14″ for the first time broken. The great thing is that hers was not an isolated Italian triumph: in fact, those accompanying Ambra on the podium were Martina Caironi, a 34-year-old from Bergamo, the former record holder and Monica Contrafatto, a 42-year-old from Nisse. Stunning hat-trick: exactly like at the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics. In the same order. The three, also friends away from the slopes, are not by chance the Charlie’s Angels of Italian sport.

the wind

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And to think that it was Sabatini’s first world medal: Caironi boasts eight, Contrafatto three. Ambra, the victim of an accident in June 2019 while on a scooter with her father on her way to training (then as a middle-distance runner), deserves recognition not only for her sprinting exploits. His enthusiasm is contagious. And his passion for athletics is a wonderful passepartout. This is why, more and more often, you are called to speak in front of audiences of young and old. Those who recently listened to it, for example, first at the Milan Sports Film Festival and then at the Macerata one, were excited and moved. The short film dedicated to her by Fiamme Gialle di lei, “Pezzi d’Ambra – athletics lessons, life lessons”, should be seen and reviewed: “There is nothing more liberating than running and feeling the wind on your face” loves repeat. It’s the meaning of her story.

The Gazzetta Sports Awards are created with the collaboration of important corporate and institutional partners. Also for this ninth edition, the winners in the respective categories will receive the ring designed by Maison Damiani as a prize. MSC Cruises is the Main Partner, as well as hosting the event on board the MSC Fantasia ship. Dr Automobiles Groupe and UnipolSai (which sponsors the Exploit of the Year awards) are Premium Partners. Santa Margherita is Sparkling Partner. Pastificio Felicetti, Riflessi, Vanini and EdiliziAcrobatica are partners. The event takes place under the patronage of the Municipality of Naples.