Alessandro Velata
Valenza (Al)
Alessandro Velata, born in 2002, is originally from Piedmont, from Valenza, a town in the province of Alessandria on the banks of the Po. Alessandro grew up attending school, hanging out with friends and playing football as a goalkeeper. He was good between the posts, very good, so much so that he was recruited by US Alessandria, a professional formation with a prestigious youth team. With the Grigi he competed in several regional and national championships, managing to combine his love for football with his high school studies. At only 16 years old, in April 2019, he went off the road on his moped and severely hit his back.
The unforgiving diagnosis was paraplegia. Alessandro spent five months in hospital, first in Alessandria, then in Milan. As soon as he was admitted to the Niguarda hospital, he first came into contact with Paralympic sport, tried out bikes and learnt about Obiettivo3. After returning home, he decided to send in his application and started riding his first handbike. Paralympic cycling inspired him from the very first days. Alessandro trained more and more intensively but did not neglect his studies and other hobbies such as swimming and hang gliding. He has many dreams, which traverse and embrace Obiettivo3: from the Paralympics to the desire to study biomedical engineering.
