Ana Maria Vitelaru
Reggio Emilia
Ana Maria Vitelaru was born in Romania in 1983 and moved to Italy when she was only seventeen. An accident at the train station left her with both legs amputated and led to several surgeries, some of which were performed in our country. She’s married and has been living just outside Reggio Emilia for more than 15 years, working in the textile industry. Sport has always been in her DNA. She’s an avid mountain trekker and for almost a decade she played wheelchair basketball at a high level. She was part of the Italian women’s national team from 2004 to 2009.
She’s always loved cycling and started handbike training with the Obiettivo3 team, quickly making the national team. In 2018, she won third place in both time trial and road race at the Paracycling World Championships in Ostend, Belgium, and first place in the time trial at the Italian World Championships in Francavilla al Mare. In 2019, she won first place in time trial and road race at the World Championships in Corridonia. To round off her tremendous progress, in 2021 she competed wearing the Italian jersey at the Paralympics in Tokyo, after taking first place in the Italian championships. In 2022, she won a silver and a bronze medal at the world championship in Canada.
