Francesca Porcellato e Giorgio Napolitano

Francesca Porcellato (born 5 September 1970) is an Italian disabled sportsperson who competed at international level in three different sports. Porcellato began her sporting career as a

wheelchair racer Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

competing in six

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

before switching to

Para Cross-country skiing Paralympic cross-country skiing is an adaptation of cross-country skiing for athletes with disabilities. Paralympic cross-country skiing is one of two Nordic skiing disciplines in the Winter Paralympic Games; the other is biathlon. Competition i ...

where she won gold at the

2010 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 44 , athletes = 506 , events = 64 in 5 sports , opening = 12 March , closing = 21 March , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Zach Beaumont , stadium = BC Place , winter_pr ...

in the 1 km sprint. In 2015, she became six-time UCI Para-cycling World champion.

Biography

Porcellato was hit by a truck when she was 2 years old and it broke her back. She discovered that she is paralyzed. In addition to participation in the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

, she is one of two women to have won four London Marathon wheelchair races, shared with the Russian-born American

Tatyana McFadden Tatyana McFadden (russian: Татьяна Макфадден; born April 21, 1989) is an American Paralympic athlete of Russian descent competing in the category T54. McFadden has won twenty Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Game ...

. She competed in wheelchair racing at every Summer Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2008, and in 2006 participated in the Winter Paralympics in cross-country

sit-ski 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 ...

ing. She won a total of two gold, three silver, and five bronze medals, all in athletics. She won the silver medal in the 800 metres T54 race at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inte ...

Statistics

Paralympic appearances

Francesca participated in eleven editions of the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

, eight summer and three winter. She was the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Vancouver 2010 )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Achievements

Other results

Porcellato won seven International

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

s. * New York City Marathon **Wheelchair race:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

**Wheelchair race: 2015 * London Marathon **Wheelchair race:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Paris Marathon The Paris Marathon (french: Marathon de Paris) is an annual marathon hosted by the city of Paris, France. It is the marathon with the second-most finishers in the world, behind the New York City Marathon. The marathon begins along the Champs ...

**Wheelchair race: ????

Biography

Statistics

Paralympic appearances

Achievements

Other results

See also

References

External links