IPCPARALYMPIC ALPINE SKIING
Davide Bendotti
In the summer of 2011, at only 17, a bad accident with the bike together with a friend changed his life radically. A friend who is gone and an amputated leg so as not to risk dying.
Wednesday 31 October 2018 7 minutes reading time
From that moment began what he calls his "second life". Davide Bendotti, 24, a blue athlete of the Paralympic National team told Neveitalia the crowning achievement of his dream and his personal redemption after a twist of fate: to represent the colors of Italy at the Pyeongchang Paralympic Winter Games 2018.
How was the idea of ​​starting skiing after the accident?
I live in the mountains, in Colere, in the province of Bergamo. I had started skiing the winter after the accident. One day my mother met an amputee boy who skied in the district of my country and presented it to me. It was he who stimulated me a bit to start doing some training and some garette and from there my journey started.
Before the accident did you already dream of becoming an athlete?
Before the accident already skied, but not at a competitive level. Sweep for fun with friends after school. I did not think about becoming an athlete. In my future I would have seen myself working immediately after school and my diploma. And instead in bad luck I was lucky enough to try and make a dream come true.
How did you join the Italian Paralympic Alpine Skiing Team?
I made my first race at the Italian Championships in 2014. It was a disastrous race, but it was the way to show me the Federation and the technicians. Since the following year they have begun to observe me and to convoke me to the training sessions and since 2015 I have managed to achieve the criteria they have for joining the team.
In addition to the Italian Championships, what competitions did you take part in?
I did the European Cup, World Championships, the World Cup and the Paralympics in PyeongChang. The European Cup is the level where I can express myself better, I made a second place and good placements. As for the world level, I still have to improve and grow a lot. At the Italian Championships I won three slalom titles and one in giant.
What are your specialties?
In these four years I have practiced all the disciplines. I've been skiing for four years, so to grow and to experience I have adapted a little to everything. But the discipline in which I go best is the special slalom.
How many hours do you train a day?
It depends. If I'm with the team I train both in the morning and in the afternoon. When I'm home I train only once a day, doing 3 or 4 hours. Now I also like playing tennis with a pram and I also dedicate myself to this sport as a hobby.
What kind of work was done to get to the PyeongChang Paralympic Games?
I have put so much effort and sacrifice on it, but it is not only thanks to me that I arrived at the Paralympics. It was also thanks to the coaches, the Federation, my company that helped me to grow.
What did it mean for you to participate in such an important event as the Paralympics?
It had a big meaning. I was thrilled to think that in 2011 I was in a hospital bed, I had lost a friend and I did not know how my life could be and instead I was able to take it back and I crowned a dream that any athlete has. Whether it's Olympics or Paralympics. It was my personal redemption.
What kind of relationship is there with the other guys on the team who, like you, live disability every day?
In a team that is composed of disabled or able-bodied people, it does not change much. With some you get on better and with others less. I have bonded a lot with some guys, especially with a partner with whom I have shared the room for three years. A strong bond of friendship has been created.
What are your dreams in the drawer?
I hope to participate in the Paralympics in Beijing and try to bring home something more prestigious.
What advice would you give young people like you from one day to the next find themselves having to face disability?
Life goes on, we must not get knocked down. Even if you sink into an abyss, you can always find streets to go up. In my case, before the accident, I would never have thought of arriving at an event as big as the Paralympics. This my "second life" instead gave me a unique chance.
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