Four-time Paralympic champion Giacomo Bertagnolli, eager to hit the slopes at Milano Cortina 2026: ‘I’m never satisfied’

Giacomo Bertagnolli and Andrea Ravelli: shared talent, shared ambition, shared birthdays

Bertagnolli and Ravelli continued their successful partnership at Beijing 2022, where they took gold in the slalom and super combined, and silver in the super-G and giant slalom.

Bertagnolli has worked with three other guides in his skiing career: a schoolmate Fabrizio Casalwho competed with him at PyeongChang 2018, Marcelino Degiampietroi Achille Crispino – but the connection he has with Ravelli is something even more special, and that’s not just because they share a birthday.

“I definitely get on very well with Andrea because he’s someone older than me, more experienced than me and a lot more technically advanced than me,” Bertagnolli said of his guide, who was born exactly seven years earlier. “He was very good. skier when he was an athlete, then he became a teacher, coach and ski instructor. He is a person with a great head and a great mentality, and it also helps me a lot to have this point of reference. I’ I would like to ski like him. I definitely have a long way to go and I have someone skiing right in front of me who is an example of that.

“Then you have to think about your limits. That’s the goal, but it will be difficult to achieve because I have a pretty serious vision problem. I can see less than half a tenth,” continued Bertagnolli. “If I could reach his level while seeing much less, it would be an even greater achievement for me.”

The duo uses bone conduction headphoneswhich are fully integrated into their helmets, to communicate during training and competitions “as if we were on the phone”. Ravelli shares information about the track, highlighting changes in pace and anything that went unnoticed during the course inspection. Bertagnolli, in turn, gives his guide directions about the distance between them.

“We don’t have a lot of buzzwords, but we’ve realized that the less we talk, the better because everyone stays focused on what needs to be done,” Bertagnolli said. “Sometimes it happens that we stimulate each other. When he’s fighting in the slalom, for example. I can knock down the pole and cut the line while he has to go around the outside of all the poles. It’s something where he doesn’t you think, but it becomes very complicated for a guide”.

One thing that Bertagnolli and Ravelli can do completely in sync is celebrate his birthday together. Since January 18 falls in the middle of the winter season, the Italian ski couple usually delay the big party in April after the last medals are handed out. The actual birthday is reserved for the races, and the glittering gifts that come with it.

“We’ve given each other some good gifts over the years because it often happened that we had World Cup races on January 18, where we also brought home the golds,” Bertagnolli said. “It certainly is a great way to celebrate.”