00:00Gianluigi, how did the idea of lending your voice to the book Lo Sport Che Ci Piace come about?
00:07I admit that as soon as I received the proposal from the Paralympic Committee during the Milan-Cortina Paralympics
00:13I couldn't think of refusing this opportunity to spread the beauty of sport and how important it is to practice it.
00:22for everyone.
00:24What message do you want to send to those who will listen to you?
00:30The message is unequivocal, so you have to do sport, sport is good for you, it was a moment of
00:37rehabilitation, growth and personal rediscovery after an accident
00:41and so sport is good for you, you have to do it, there's no reason not to.
00:48On the final page of the book there are several sports listed, apart from hockey, what are the others that you would recommend to
00:56girls and boys?
00:59I believe that every discipline has its pros and cons, the important thing is to try it, find a sport you like,
01:07in which one discovers oneself to be good
01:08and by developing one's skills within a sporting discipline one can understand one's own peculiarities,
01:16one's talents
01:18and therefore it is necessary to try any sport and become satisfied because sport is good for your life anyway
01:25every day, even at non-competitive levels.
01:28The Sport We Like is the first book you've read aimed at young people. Do you think you'll read others for Luigi?
01:37Well, I've already read this book with my children at home, so I'm happy to be able to read it.
01:43to other children, to other kids
01:45who maybe will approach sports. Who knows, maybe this is a start, who knows, maybe there won't be
01:53they are other contents.
01:55Let's talk about you, the spark of Turin 2006, at 17 years old after the motorbike accident you saw for the
02:03Para Ice Hockey for the first time
02:05During the Turin Games, and a few months later you were already on the ice. What attracted you to this sport?
02:11at first sight?
02:13Well, before the accident I always played soccer, so it was a team sport. Watching another team sport
02:20on the ice so fast, competitive,
02:22to the winner like Para Ice Hockey it was love at first sight and it was natural for me in
02:27a somewhat delicate moment
02:31after the accident where I lost my leg, finding a goal which was to want to participate with that
02:38squad
02:38of Para Ice Hockey at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics. This gave me the opportunity to discover myself as an athlete, to change,
02:46to shake up my life at that moment and fulfill myself as an athlete and also as a person.
02:52You said that if you hadn't become an Uke player you would have dedicated yourself full time to travel and the mountains.
02:58The contact with your homeland, Trentino, how much does it help you to disconnect and recharge your batteries between
03:05one gathering and another?
03:09Coming from a region like Trentino is something that as soon as I have the chance I like to return to the woods,
03:17Being outdoors is something that is necessary for me and it is something that together with other sports
03:23gave me the opportunity
03:24to know myself, to understand what my body was like, what my potential was
03:27and so for me it is an indissoluble bond with the mountain, with the effort, with putting yourself in a situation
03:37where disability is exposed and where one must bring out one's abilities
03:44because on a mountain trail you don't just walk out the door and you're home, you have to take it home
03:49the result,
03:50now getting to the top or going back to the car and so it's something that on a mental level
03:56It also helps a lot in everyday life.
03:58Let's go back to talking about sports, you said that the thing you love most is making a difficult assist for
04:04a companion
04:05While you hate ending up in the penalty box leaving the team outplayed, this fully reflects your altruistic soul,
04:13How does this role of director and unifier translate into the Azzurri locker room?
04:20These have always been my characteristics, I have always preferred a good game, in short when everything works in a team
04:29we meet without even speaking to each other and this perhaps also reflects my personality, the fact that in any case the
04:37my companions
04:37They recently chose me as captain of this national team because for me the most important thing in the team
04:44he is the member of this team himself, so even the kids who are approaching it for the first time
04:50this group
04:50They find it as a group, I believe, inclusive and that can give them the opportunity to bring out the best in themselves.
04:58and therefore give your all when you're on the ice as well as in life.
05:02Since your debut in 2008, how have the pace, materials and physicality of para ice hockey changed?
05:09international?
05:12Almost twenty years have passed now and the materials have changed a lot, the preparation has changed a lot.
05:19By now almost all the national teams that are part of the best eight that play in a Paralympic Games are practically professionals
05:26or at least they train every day. It would have been nice for me to do some training like this sometime
05:33a year ago
05:34I'm 39 now, I try to keep up but the level has become really high and
05:39truly spectacular
05:41and that's the beauty of this sport, precisely because a disability like a bilateral amputation
05:46which seems to penalize a lot in everyday life when you are on the sled it becomes the most serious disability
05:51coveted, most sought after
05:53so an athlete because it is a characteristic that makes him very strong.
05:56Nowadays many national teams have athletes with this disability and it means having a top level athlete and it is the
06:05beautiful about this sport too.
06:07From Vancouver 2010 to Milan Cortina 2026, passing through the fourth place just a hair's breadth away from the podium in Pyeongchang
06:152018
06:16What is the memory or Paralympic match that you carry with you most intensely?
06:24The third place match in Pyeongchang was something huge, the possibility of getting a medal was
06:31it was something really adrenaline-filled
06:33I think that the match that meant the most to me was the debut match, the one
06:40Italy-Canada in Vancouver in 2010
06:42and above all this year's debut match in Milan Cortina against the United States
06:49where we were ahead 1-0 in the very first minutes but then it ended with a deficit of over 10 goals for
06:57the United States
06:57and despite all this, the entire audience in the arena was cheering for us, obviously the Italian audience supported us though.
07:05until the end
07:06and I think this is a beautiful message for sport in general and for the enthusiasm it has created
07:13Paraisockey also in Italy on the occasion of the Paralympics
07:17Determination, reliability and altruism are your three guiding adjectives
07:22to a boy or girl who today is faced with an acquired disability and looks with fear
07:29to Paralympic sport
07:30What message would you like to convey?
07:35I too struggled at first to take the first step towards returning to sports.
07:42I thought it was never the right time, I thought there was something else to do first
07:46then maybe it was also my luck to surround myself with the right people who dragged me the first time
07:52They pushed me to continue for the first month and then it became a habit and now it's a
07:59need
08:00I'm not well without sport, I can't feel good in any form of sporting activity
08:07The advice I can give is to try, to try to persevere for a month
08:12and then you will see that you too will become catalysts for other beautiful people
08:17that will make you continue in the discipline and perhaps discover you as athletes
08:23Thanks Gianluigi and happy reading!
08:26Thank you so much to you
