Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang: this is who the Azzurri squad are

There are only three days left for the opening of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games to be held in South Korea and Pyeongchang and once again ready to host the sporting event involving athletes from different countries around the world. For Italy , 26 Azzurri
are ready to fight for the medal , called up to seek redemption from the last Paralympics, where our country has not won anything. Sochi 2014 was a disappointment and the goal for the current competition is to enrich the medal table with achievements that carry the colors of Italy. [/ Vc_column_text] [/ vc_column] [/ vc_row]

[/ vc_column] [/ vc_row] The blue athletes are mostly young and one thing immediately catches the eye: there are only male names. In fact, no women will participate in the Pyeongchang Paralympics.
A rather bizarre choice and not accepted by all willingly, which derives from an accurate assessment of the technical qualities of each possible participant. And if at the Winter Olympics women were the protagonists bringing 3 gold medals all pink, in the upcoming Paralympic event it will be the men who will have to raise the name of Italy.
Let’s get to know the Azzurri squad more closely, who will compete in Pyeongchang from 9 to 18 March. There are 26 athletes, including 17 from the para hockey team, 4 from snowboarding, 4 from alpine skiing and only one for Nordic skiing.
Gabriele Araudo, Alessandro Andreoni, Eusebiu Antochi, Bruno Balossetti, Gianluca Cavaliere, Valerio Corvino, Cristoph Depaoli, Sandro Kalegaris, Stephan Kafmann, Nils Larch, Gregory Leperdi, Andrea Macri, Florian Planker, Roberto Radice, Gianluigi Rosa, Santino Stillitano, Werner Winkler they are our representatives in ice hockey .
Among them is our standard-bearer, Florian Planker , bronze winner in Salt Lake City 2002, European champion in 2011 and silver in 2016, in his sixth Olympic participation.
Planker still has that moment in his mind when he received the flag from the President of the Republic:
One of the most exciting moments of my life was receiving the flag from President Mattarella. I am proud of my career and for me it is an immense honor
For snowboarding it will be Roberto Cavicchi, Jacopo Luchini, Manuel Pozzerle, Paolo Priolo who will raise the flag, while for alpine skiing there will be Davide Bendotti, Rene De Silvestro, Giacomo Bertagnolli / Fabrizio Casal.
Only one athlete competes for alpine skiing , Cristian Toninelli, on his debut at an Olympic competition.
Many of them are young and at the first Paralympic experience, but the president of the Paralympic committee Luca Pancallihe is sure that they are the most talented and will make our country look good by forgetting the sad experience of Sochi 2014.
Here is how their call-up comments:
For the Italian national team, the watchword of this edition of the Paralympic Winter Games is ‘redemption’ . Our goal is, in fact, the turnaround compared to the 2014 Games where we were unable to win even a medal. It is a team with many young people and many talents, made up of guys who have worked hard and who will do their best to honor our country. Thanks to the work done by the Italian Paralympic Winter Sports Federation and the Italian Ice Sports Federation we will present ourselves with a united group eager to do the best