Italy at the 2018 Winter Paralympics facts for kids
Italy sent a team of amazing athletes to compete in the 2018 Winter Paralympics! These big games happened in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Italian athletes showed off their skills in different sports like para-alpine skiing, para-Nordic skiing, para-snowboarding, and sledge hockey. Italy's sledge hockey team did really well in the 2017 Sledge Hockey World Championships, finishing in the top four. This great performance earned them a spot to compete in sledge hockey at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Contents
Team Italy
Here's a list of the talented athletes who were part of "Team Italy" at the 2018 Games:
| Name | Sport | Gender | Classification | Events | ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alessandro Andreoni | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Eusebiu Antochi | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Gabriele Araudo | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Bruno Balossetti | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Davide Bendotti | para-alpine skiing | male | |||
| Giacomo Bertagnolli | para-alpine skiing | male | |||
| Fabrizio Casal | para-alpine skiing | male | |||
| Gianluca Cavaliere | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Roberto Cavicchi | para-snowboarding | male | |||
| Valerio Corvino | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Renè De Silvestro | para-alpine skiing | male | |||
| Cristoph Depaoli | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Stephan Kafmann | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Sandro Kalegaris | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Nils Larch | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Gregory Leperdi | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Jacopo Luchini | para-snowboarding | male | |||
| Andrea Macrì | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Florian Planker | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Manuel Pozzerle | para-snowboarding | male | |||
| Paolo Priolo | para-snowboarding | male | |||
| Roberto Radice | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Gigi Rosa | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Santino Stillitano | sledge hockey | male | |||
| Cristian Toninelli | para-Nordic skiing | male | |||
| Werner Winkler | sledge hockey | male |
Para-alpine Skiing
Italian Skiers
One of Italy's para-alpine skiers, Giacomo Bertagnolli, is a visually impaired athlete.
Preparing for the Games
Giacomo Bertagnolli, who was 17 years old at the time, trained hard before the Paralympics. In January 2018, he went to Slovenia to compete in a World Cup event in Kranjska Gora. He had already shown his talent by winning the super combined race at the 2017 Para Alpine World Championships.
Race Schedule
The para-alpine skiing events had a busy schedule. Skiers practiced for the downhill race on March 7. However, their practice runs on March 8 and 9 were canceled.
The first official event was the downhill race on March 10, from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The Super-G race followed on March 11, with all skiers competing between 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM. The super combined event took place on March 13, with the Super-G part in the morning and the slalom part in the afternoon.
The slalom event started on March 14 and finished on March 15. Both women and men raced in the morning sessions. In the afternoon, women did their second run first, followed by the men. The last para-alpine skiing race was the giant slalom, held on March 17 and 18. Men and women raced at the same time in the morning sessions. In the afternoon, women raced first, and men started about half an hour after them.
Medal Winners
Italy's Giacomo Bertagnolli won two medals in para-alpine skiing!
- In the men's visually impaired downhill race, he earned a bronze medal. Mac Marcoux won gold, and Jakub Krako won silver.
- In the men's Super-G visually impaired race, Giacomo Bertagnolli won a silver medal. Jakub Krako took home the gold, and Miroslav Haraus won bronze.
Sledge Hockey
How Italy Qualified
Italy's sledge hockey team earned their spot at the 2018 Winter Paralympics by finishing in the top four at the 2017 Sledge Hockey World Championships. They also played in the 2017 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in December in Charlottetown, Canada. In January 2018, Italy even beat Norway 4-3 in overtime at a tournament in Turin.
Game Schedule
In the sledge hockey competition, Italy was placed in Group A with Canada, Norway, and Sweden.
- Italy played against Norway on March 10.
- They faced Canada on March 11.
- Their final group stage game was against Sweden on March 12.
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canada |
|||||||||
 Italy |
|||||||||
 Norway |
|||||||||
 Sweden |
| March 10, 2018 12:00 KST |
Norway |
12:00 KST | Italy |
Gangneung Hockey Centre |
| March 11, 2018 19:00 KST |
Canada |
19:00 KST | Italy |
Gangneung Hockey Centre |
| March 12, 2018 19:00 MSK |
Italy |
19:00 MSK | Sweden |
Gangneung Hockey Centre |
See also
In Spanish: Italia en los Juegos Paralímpicos de Pyeongchang 2018 para niños
