Paris 2024 Paralympics: from tragedy to fairytale! Alessandro Ossola comes full circle as he proposes to his soulmate Arianna Mandaradoni in the Stade de France

"You’re crazy!" exclaimed Arianna as Alessandro knelt trackside and asked for her hand in front of 40,000 spectators. But the man we met fresh from a resounding "yes" and an elimination in the 100m T63, is anything but crazy.

Alessandro Ossola is a thoughtful, funny and determined man who has overcome loss and heartbreak without bitterness — a man who wants to give something back to a world that helped him through the dark times. The only thing that is remotely crazy about him, is his love for Arianna.

"Our relationship is like a maelstrom because every athlete needs people around them to push them", he explains. "Sometimes she believed in me more than I believed in myself, and that’s something truly amazing. ‘You can do it, you can succeed, you can, you can,’ she would say. This is something everyone needs, and I hope that everyone finds someone like her. She is my partner ... for life."

When Alessandro lost his first wife and the majority of his left leg in a motorcycle accident in 2015, he was living a normal life as a technical artist who played numerous sports in his spare time. Lesser men might have crumbled, and Alessandro admits readily that this was a sombre time, but the amateur Turinese footballer was determined that this cruel event would not define him. As the surgeons set about rebuilding his shattered leg, he started to rebuild his life; a process In which sport would play a critical role.

"Sport gave me a way to take action and a way out of a very dark period", says Alessandro meaningfully*. "After my accident, I lost a lot — everything but my smile — but sport pushed me to smile more and more. Some might say today wasn’t an amazing day for me from a sporting perspective. I say it was. At 36 years old, I was competing with the best in the world, and I’m really proud of that."*

"I’ve come full circle now", he observes with no hint of resentment. "I started this journey years ago, not only in sports and athletics, but also in life. With what I’ve achieved in these last days at the Paris Paralympics, I feel like I’ve closed that circle. Now, I’m ready to start along a new path because my life isn’t over, and I have many things left to do."

Characteristically, Alessandro is too modest, he started on this new path many years ago. Few elite sportsmen — even Paralympian sportsmen — continue to work while they compete due to their travel and training demands. But in parallel with his hectic para athletic schedule, Alessandro has founded the world's first inclusive padel circuit and Bionic People — a non-profit association dedicated to changing the misconceptions that people have about disabilities.

"I founded Bionic People with two amazing friends, Riccardo Cotilli and Chiara Bordi", says Alessandro with no hint of boastfulness. "We realised we were happy, but that many around us weren’t. We saw sadness in the eyes of many people with disabilities, and we wanted to do something about it. My team aims to change that sadness and through my own story, I hope to show that diversity isn’t a limitation, and that it can sometimes be a strength."

Alessandro has hinted that these will be his last Games as a track Paralympian, but don’t count him out if he achieves his ambition of making padel a Paralympic sport. In the meantime, the man from Turin will always have Paris, the Stade de France, and the memory of a marriage proposal that delighted the World.

"The Stade de France is the best location I could have ever chosen, and Arianna is a very special person, so I was really happy to do this here. Having my family in the stadium — seeing my mum crying with joy and my father beaming with pride — was something that made me truly happy. It’s not just the athlete who achieves results; it’s the support of the girlfriend, the boyfriend, the family, and the team that matters."

"All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players", wrote William Shakespeare. Last night the world was introduced to a man of many parts. And he bowed out in style on the biggest stage of all to begin a new life with a new life partner.