Sunday, September 8, 2024 - Paralympic sprinter Alessandro Ossola left the trackside a happy man after the love of his life accepted his proposal despite his failure to reach the men’s T63 100m final in Paris.
Having finished sixth in the event three years ago in Tokyo,
Ossola missed out on the final after finishing fifth in his heat in a time of
12.46 seconds on Wednesday, September 4.
The Italian, in a turn of events, then proposed to his
partner Arianna in the stands after the race at Stade de France.
‘She answered me ‘You’re crazy, you’re crazy’ and she kissed
me, so it was exciting really,’ Ossola, who concocted the plan a month before
the Games, recounted the BBC World Service.
‘I was unlucky, I didn’t achieve the final and I was really
sad about it. But after three minutes, you know life is strange, I was really
happy.’
For Ossola, the proposal is significant due to the personal
tragedy that surrounds his journey into Para-athletics.
Born non-disabled, the 36-year-old’s life changed in 2015
when a motorcycle accident led to the death of his first wife and forced
doctors to amputate most of his left leg.
Ossola started running after the accident and credits the
sport for helping to guide him out of a ‘dark period’ in his life.
‘Sport gave me a way to take action and a way out of a very
dark period,’ he said in an interview with the official Olympic website.
‘After my accident, I lost a lot — everything but my smile —
but sport pushed me to smile more and more.
‘Some might say today wasn’t an amazing day for me from a
sporting perspective. I say it was. At 36 years old, I was competing with the
best in the world, and I’m really proud of that.’
Ossola was also quick to credit the influence of his new
fiancée for helping him along his journey in sports.
‘Our relationship is like a maelstrom because every athlete
needs people around them to push them,’ he added.
‘Sometimes she believed in me more than I believed in
myself, and that’s something truly amazing. ‘You can do it, you can succeed,
you can, you can,’ she would say.
‘This is something everyone needs, and I hope that everyone finds someone like her. She is my partner … for life.’
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