Sunday, March 12, 2006 7:58:06 PM
An interview with Emanuele Pagnini
. . 
Dec 23 2005
Hi Emanuele. We would like to get to know you better, so we have got a few questions lined up, to find out about your dreams and ambitions. Let’s begin with your sport: how did you start in competitive sport, and why skiing?
I decided to start skiing because it’s a sport that is perfect for my character – I love the speed, and it’s a very dynamic sport. Then there’s the fact that you practise it in wonderful places: I love being at high altitudes, and even if the weather’s bad, I still enjoy it and feel completely at ease there. I began competing after taking part in a couple of monoski races and, together with the other athletes of my society, I took part in the Italian Championships in 2002. That’s when I realized that I could participate at higher levels too, if I made a serious commitment, and that’s what I did. I like measuring myself against others, and against myself as well.
What’s it like, being a Paralympic champion?
I still feel just like a Paralympic competitor. To be a champion you have to win, but I’m definitely very proud to represent Italy in this event: this is already a dream that’s come true.
What was the strongest emotion you felt, the first time you put on the monoski?
After the car accident in 1993, I thought I wouldn’t be able to ski again. My mother told me that when I was in hospital, one of the first things I spoke about was my great regret at not being able to ski any more. Years later, when I discovered the possibility to do it with the monoski, I was really excited – so much so that I immediately hired one and went off to the slopes with my brother Francesco and a friend, Alessandro, to begin “sliding on the snow”.
How much time do you spend training, and in what part of the day?
This year I’ve trained a lot, going to the gym every day during the summer, for about 3 hours a day, then in September I started moving on the ski slopes of the glaciers, about 3 days a week, almost every week. I train above all in the mornings, both when I’m in the gym and on the slopes.
What are your objectives for the next Paralympics of Torino 2006, and what expectations do you have for these Olympic Winter Games?
My objectives are to live the event fully and to do my best. I’d rather not create any expectations – I’d like to start the competitions without any pressure, and I’m also a bit superstitious…
Superstitious! And have you got a lucky charm?
There’s a number that pops up again and again in my life that reminds me of good times, but also bad ones. It’s 41, and I carry it with me on the band that covers my legs on the “mono”.
Why did you decide to take part in the Paralympics?
Taking part in the games is definitely a source of great pride and honour for me. Then there’s the emotion of living an event that’s open to only a few…and being an athlete with the Italian team….
Do you think that the Paralympics of Torino 2006 could be a good opportunity to make Paralympic sports more visible?
Of course, an event like this has never been staged in Italy, and it’s a chance to inform people, to offer positive information, as already happens in the other countries. Most Italians don’t even know how to confront or just communicate with a person in a wheelchair, and I’m talking about everyday life, whether in the street or in a public place. Thanks to my sport I can travel abroad as well, and discover situations very different from that in Italy, and I realise that just a tiny effort would be enough to live in a better way, for us but also for the others, because we often feel uncomfortable, but often it’s the people around us who feel uncomfortable too. It’s strange how a chair with two wheels creates a difference that doesn’t actually exist.
If you had the chance to ask for some advice from an Olympic champion, what would you ask?
How to transform the emotion of an important race into competitive drive, because if you can do that, you can give 110 %.
And what advice would you give to people with a disability interested in taking up a sport?
Well, I’d tell them that doing sport is good for you. Both physically, so it’s great for those who have trouble moving, and helps in the everyday life, but also for the spirit, if you think of the saying “a sound mind in a sound body”.
Tell us what has helped you in your competitive activities, and what has created problems for you.
Competition means constant training and careful eating habits, so since I’ve been training I’ve felt much better physically – I’m stronger and more agile. The only problem that skiing creates is that it often keeps me away from my family and my daughter Claudia, who’s four.
. . Dec 23 2005
Hi Emanuele. We would like to get to know you better, so we have got a few questions lined up, to find out about your dreams and ambitions. Let’s begin with your sport: how did you start in competitive sport, and why skiing?
I decided to start skiing because it’s a sport that is perfect for my character – I love the speed, and it’s a very dynamic sport. Then there’s the fact that you practise it in wonderful places: I love being at high altitudes, and even if the weather’s bad, I still enjoy it and feel completely at ease there. I began competing after taking part in a couple of monoski races and, together with the other athletes of my society, I took part in the Italian Championships in 2002. That’s when I realized that I could participate at higher levels too, if I made a serious commitment, and that’s what I did. I like measuring myself against others, and against myself as well.
What’s it like, being a Paralympic champion?
I still feel just like a Paralympic competitor. To be a champion you have to win, but I’m definitely very proud to represent Italy in this event: this is already a dream that’s come true.
What was the strongest emotion you felt, the first time you put on the monoski?
After the car accident in 1993, I thought I wouldn’t be able to ski again. My mother told me that when I was in hospital, one of the first things I spoke about was my great regret at not being able to ski any more. Years later, when I discovered the possibility to do it with the monoski, I was really excited – so much so that I immediately hired one and went off to the slopes with my brother Francesco and a friend, Alessandro, to begin “sliding on the snow”.
How much time do you spend training, and in what part of the day?
This year I’ve trained a lot, going to the gym every day during the summer, for about 3 hours a day, then in September I started moving on the ski slopes of the glaciers, about 3 days a week, almost every week. I train above all in the mornings, both when I’m in the gym and on the slopes.
What are your objectives for the next Paralympics of Torino 2006, and what expectations do you have for these Olympic Winter Games?
My objectives are to live the event fully and to do my best. I’d rather not create any expectations – I’d like to start the competitions without any pressure, and I’m also a bit superstitious…
Superstitious! And have you got a lucky charm?
There’s a number that pops up again and again in my life that reminds me of good times, but also bad ones. It’s 41, and I carry it with me on the band that covers my legs on the “mono”.
Why did you decide to take part in the Paralympics?
Taking part in the games is definitely a source of great pride and honour for me. Then there’s the emotion of living an event that’s open to only a few…and being an athlete with the Italian team….
Do you think that the Paralympics of Torino 2006 could be a good opportunity to make Paralympic sports more visible?
Of course, an event like this has never been staged in Italy, and it’s a chance to inform people, to offer positive information, as already happens in the other countries. Most Italians don’t even know how to confront or just communicate with a person in a wheelchair, and I’m talking about everyday life, whether in the street or in a public place. Thanks to my sport I can travel abroad as well, and discover situations very different from that in Italy, and I realise that just a tiny effort would be enough to live in a better way, for us but also for the others, because we often feel uncomfortable, but often it’s the people around us who feel uncomfortable too. It’s strange how a chair with two wheels creates a difference that doesn’t actually exist.
If you had the chance to ask for some advice from an Olympic champion, what would you ask?
How to transform the emotion of an important race into competitive drive, because if you can do that, you can give 110 %.
And what advice would you give to people with a disability interested in taking up a sport?
Well, I’d tell them that doing sport is good for you. Both physically, so it’s great for those who have trouble moving, and helps in the everyday life, but also for the spirit, if you think of the saying “a sound mind in a sound body”.
Tell us what has helped you in your competitive activities, and what has created problems for you.
Competition means constant training and careful eating habits, so since I’ve been training I’ve felt much better physically – I’m stronger and more agile. The only problem that skiing creates is that it often keeps me away from my family and my daughter Claudia, who’s four.
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