Diego Bazzani

Diego Bazzani
Roma

Diego Bazzani, born in 1995, is a C3 category paracyclist. He is part of a very large family, which has given him four sisters and three brothers. Born in the province of Turin, he has often moved to different cities with his family and currently lives and works in Rome. At the age of 8, his life took a sudden turn when he was diagnosed with a brain abscess. Admitted to hospital in Milan, he faced a long convalescence and for a long time used a wheelchair before being able to walk again, albeit with serious damage to his right leg; he can’t run and has balance difficulties.

The disease cut short his football career, in which he had also been selected by the AC Milan youth team. Gradually, however, he got back on his feet and fell in love with cycling and travelling by bike. In 2020, during a trip to Sardinia, a friend convinced him to look into paracycling and on the web he learnt about Obiettivo3. He applied for the initiative, met sports director Pierino Dainese and his fellow Turin native Laura Roccasalva, and was recruited. Thanks to Obiettivo3, he was able to rekindle a dream he’d had since childhood, that of one day participating in the Paralympic Games.

He has a number of other interests. Lorenzo Amurri’s autobiographical book, Apnea, is one of his favourites and has given him the strength to keep going and overcome obstacles. He loves music, mechanics, innovative cooking and also science. In life, as in sport, he never wants to settle, always trying to achieve more. This is also the reason for another of his dreams, that of climbing the iconic Mount Zoncolan and setting a good time