Eleonora Sarti

Started: She took up the sport at age 27. (Athlete, 22 Aug 2015) Reason: She was inspired to pursue a career in Para sport after watching the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. "At two and a half years old my mum took me to the pool and I started swimming and then I never stopped playing sports, because it was good physically but also mentally as it helped me to face difficulties. Watching the opening ceremony of the [2012] Paralympic Games made me realise that I wanted to be there. I started with archery because my physical therapist, who worked in both the wheelchair basketball and archery teams, suggested it. He was the one who made me discover the sport. I consider archery to be a team sport as well in the sense that there is a group of people working behind me, who support me in everything. Without them, it would be impossible to compete." (spettacolomusicasport.com, 01 Nov 2020; paralympic.org, 17 Jun 2020; Athlete, 22 Aug 2015) Additional Info: DOCUMENTARY In 2020 she featured in an Italian documentary series called 'Extraordinarily Normal Stories'. She was in an episode focusing on 'diversity and beauty', which told her story of self-acceptance and how she became a Para athlete. "It was beautiful, the series is made by Michelangelo Gratton, who I have known since basketball and he is a person who, through the questions he asks, manages to dig inside you and make you take an introspective journey of personal growth. It's a really well-crafted series, in which they've managed to bring out the reality, who we really are, being the same as everyone else, regardless of whether one uses a wheelchair or has other differences from what's considered normal." (spettacolomusicasport.com, 01 Nov 2020; arcosenzabarriere.it, 16 Oct 2020)