As an Olympian and now a Paralympian, Italy’s Emanuel Perathoner is a member of an exclusive club.
And on Sunday, the Para-snowboarder capped his Paralympic debut with his maiden gold, a dominant victory in the men’s LL2 (lower limb) snowboard cross earning his country’s first title of their home Milan-Cortina Games.
Only about 20 athletes have competed at both the Olympics and Paralympics, while Perathoner becomes only the second to compete at both Winter Games.
Eight years ago, the now 39-year-old had just finished competing at his second Olympics. A World Championship medallist in 2019, he was eyeing a third Games in Beijing four years later, and in the interim, won his first World Cup title.
But a year out from those 2022 Games, a devastating crash, in which he “destroyed” his knee and sustained multiple fractures in his left leg, effectively ended his Olympic career.
For a while, Perathoner’s only goal was to learn to walk again. He had a total knee replacement, but never thought he would be eligible for the Paralympics because he “still had all the pieces of my body”.
It was while visiting his old team-mates on a training camp in Stelvio, to which Italy’s Para-snowboard team turned up, that he realised it was a journey he could go on.
“I knew something about the Paralympic world, but until you’re in it, you don’t realize how competitive it is: how ignorant I was,” he told Italian outlet La Gazzetta, external.
He made his Para-snowboard debut in late 2022. Competing with limited mobility in his knee and ankle, he has since gone on to win 31 World Cup medals across the disciplines, as well as three World Championship golds.
Perathoner came into the Paralympics as red-hot favourite for both his events – snowboard cross and next Saturday’s banked slalom – having been defeated just three times since 2024.
He dominated proceedings in Cortina, easing through each round before crossing the line more than three seconds ahead of Australia’s silver medallist Ben Tudhope in the final. Korea’s Lee Jehyuk took bronze.
“I’m super happy to bring home the gold medal in my home country. It’s so close to my hometown, so [doing it] in front of my family, that was the best part,” he said.
“I was hearing all the crowd cheering for us riders. Not just for me, but for everybody. I think that was the most emotional moment.
“I thought: the last four years have been totally worth it. All the work that I was putting in, and all the travelling, all the time away from home, it was totally worth it.”
