A work event in 2003, at the age of 32, while in full physical strength and running a business, caused a spinal cord injury and the inability to walk, paving the way for a dark tunnel.
Giovanni Achenza, originally from Ozieri, is now running on a streak of light.
“My life changed and it immediately set me a personal challenge“.
Thanks to his family, his wife Costanza and his daughters, Giovanni has revised his life perspective by looking out the window and discovering a whole new world.
“With some friends I started cycling and it soon became my passion so much that I left Sardinia and moved to Riccione to compete“.
The path from the condition of immobility to the second chance was undoubtedly bumpy, but the help of doctors, family and one’s own inner strength made the difference.
Giovanni has been a member of the Italian Paratriathlon team for four years and a member of the Fiamme Azzurre body for one year. The Rio 2016 Paralympics, which represent his sporting peak, saw him as a protagonist thanks to the conquest of a bronze medal. In his palmares, however, many other medals also shine, both in Italy and abroad.
Can a tunnel of darkness turn into a catwalk of sunshine?
For Giovanni Achenza, yes.
First the handbike and then the paratriathlon, fatigue and the wind on his face become his travel companions. From the first kilometers with his daughters and family on the streets of the town – where they call him Nanni – to the Italian championships and the world cup, where they will call him champion. From surgery to rehabilitation up to the Venice marathon, Giovanni’s redemption has become reality.
A man of granite. Like his land.