Francesco Bocciardo

Listening to music, watching TV, movies. (Instagram profile, 15 Feb 2020; Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Winning gold in the S6 400m freestyle at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Italian swimmer Francesco Bettella. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri and Italian Para swimmer Vincenzo Boni. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

He injured his left shoulder ahead of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. He was still able to compete at the Games. (montallegro.it, 14 Mar 2018)

He listens to rock music before competing. (swim4lifemagazine.it, 21 Jun 2017)

"Passion, in my opinion, is the stimulus that drives us to grind out the kilometres in the early mornings, not even knowing for what reason. But passion alone is not enough. It takes dedication, perseverance, and above all sacrifice. I also believe consistency is fundamental. If I had not been consistent, I would never have been able to achieve my goals. I have met many very talented guys who did not have the mentality and who have not been able to withstand the stress that constant training requires." (associazionemicrolab.it, 13 Dec 2019)

In 2019 he received a Golden Collar for outstanding results and ethics in sport, presented by the Italian National Olympic Committee and the Italian Paralympic Committee. (Instagram profile, 25 Dec 2019)

In 2019 he received the Talent of the Municipality of Genoa award. (Instagram profile, 25 Sep 2019)

He received the Best Sportsman award at the 2017 Stars in Sports Awards in Liguria, Italy. (swim4lifemagazine.it, 21 Jun 2017)

He was named the 2015 Sportsman of the Year by the Liguria Sports Council. (primocanale.it, 16 Dec 2015)

To win three gold medals at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (ilsecoloxix.it, 07 Dec 2020)

He has spastic distal tetraplegia, which affects the movement in his legs. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019; quotidiano.net, 08 Mar 2018; finp.it, 2012)

WORKAHOLIC
He has described himself as a workaholic, and is looking forward to applying the dedication he has cultivated in sport to other areas of life once his swimming career is over. "Many people think that a swimmer is just a swimmer, as if we could not be anything else. It's not like that. I'm a swimmer but I'm also a worker, a boyfriend, a son, a dreamer, a friend, perhaps one day also a father and many other things. Swimming has certainly been and will always be a fundamental and very important part of my life, but I also know that one day I will hang my swimsuit up and continue on with life. I would define myself as a workaholic who tries to do everything, and unfortunately often I only have time to do half of it." (associazionemicrolab.it, 13 Dec 2019)

ATTITUDE
In 2019 he said his life had been a journey of self-acceptance since age three. "I have overcome many difficulties, first of all that of accepting my impairment. I think I realised I was different from other children when I was three and saw my image reflected in the glass while I was walking. All the other difficulties in life were nothing compared to that. It was not easy. Adolescence was complicated, often I was seen, and am still seen, as an alien. In my opinion, if there are the right institutions and structures, a disability should not affect a person in a negative way. It is up to us to decide whether disability ought to be a disabling force. Assuming that there are no structural barriers in place, a person must seek within himself the motivation to say, 'I can lead a happy life even with a disability'." (zai.net, 27 Feb 2017; associazionemicrolab.it, 13 Dec 2019)