Francesco Demaio
Orbassano (To)
Francesco Demaio, born in 1981, is an athlete from Orbassano, Piedmont. As a child, he wasn’t much of an athlete; he played some football, but he preferred to talk about sport. And he did it well, so much so that he started working as a journalist, focusing on the sporting initiatives in his local area. He received an Arts degree, and eventually turned to sport. In his 20s he fell in love with kickboxing, in which he became a black belt. Then, urged on by some friends, he discovered mountain biking and participated, just for fun, in his first races. He liked cycling, but also loved running, just as the buzz about triathlon was spreading in Italy.
His sporting ascent, however, was blocked by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2014. A blow from which Francesco managed to recover thanks to the support of his family and the power of sport. Sport as physical and psychological therapy. After some physiotherapy, he started cycling, running and swimming again, always surrounded by the love of his wife Eva and little son Samuele. Thanks to Sclerobiker Alessandro Cresti, in 2020 he learnt about Obiettivo3, applied, and was recruited by the triathlon project. The following year, in 2021, he won the Italian duathlon championship in San Benedetto del Tronto, while in 2022 he completed his first IronMan in Cervia.
