Chiara Mazzel (born 19 March 1996) is an Italian

para-alpine skier Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the Internat ...

, who won multiple events at the

2023 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships The 2023 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships was an international disability sport alpine skiing event held in Lleida, Spain from 20 to 29 January. The championships are held biannually by the International Paralympic Committee The Inter ...

. She competed at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

Early life

Mazzel from Cavalese,

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

, Italy. As a child, she was diagnosed with

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

, and was registered blind at the age of 18. In her spare time, she plays the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

. As of 2023, Mazzel lived in

San Giovanni di Fassa San Giovanni di Fassa (in ladin: ''Sèn Jan'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It was formed on 1 January 2018 after the merger of the former ''comuni'' of Pozza di Fassa and ...

. In June 2023, Mezzel was wheeled up to the Everest South base camp in Nepal.

Career

As a teenager, Mazzel participated in

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

. She started competition events in 2019, alongside guide Fabrizio Casal. She competes in visually impaired classification events. Mazzel competed at the

. She finished seventh in the slalom event. At the

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

, Spain, Mezzel won the

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

, super-G and Alpine combined events. Later in the year, she won the super-G event at the Paralympic Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

, Italy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mazzel, Chiara 1996 births Living people People from Cavalese Paralympic alpine skiers for Italy Italian female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics