Tuscany’s Jacopo Luchini Chases Elusive Paralympic Medal on Home SoilThe bus from Montemurlo left before dawn. For years, Jacopo Luchini rode it alone, a teenage boy missing his left hand, snowboard tucked under his arm, making the hour-long journey through the Tuscan hills to the Apennine slopes.At 15, his aunt gave him a gift, a trip to the mountains. “One day, my aunt gave me a special present, saying, ‘I will take you to the mountains’, and I can still remember the first time I stood on a snowboard,” Luchini told Paralympic.org in January. “I was very excited, and it was amazing.” That single trip became an obsession. “Snowboarding was born from a personal search,” he told La Repubblica in 2020. “Mine wasn’t a family that could afford to take me to the mountains, so I started organising myself.” He graduated from the University of Florence in 2017, made Italy’s national team, and became the country’s first overall para snowboard World Cup champion in 2019. The victories accumulated, 41 World Cup podiums, two overall titles, and four World Championship medals in 2023. Yet the Paralympic medal has escaped him. He finished fourth twice at PyeongChang 2018, where he missed bronze by three-hundredths of a second. At Beijing 2022, he finished fifth. Now 35, Luchini faces his third Paralympic Winter Games. The Milano Cortina Paralympics open March 6, and the medal that has eluded him waits less than 200 miles from where those bus rides began. This time will be different. For the first time, Luchini will compete in front of Italian supporters. Friends and family from Montemurlo will travel to Cortina d’Ampezzo, taking the same journey to the mountains he once made alone. “It will mean a lot for me,” he told Paralympic.org. “We don’t have that many competitions in Italy, it’s usually far away, so Milano Cortina will be the first time I’ll have my friends and family supporting me. It’s going to be very special.” For Florence and the Tuscany region, Luchini represents something rare, a local athlete competing at the highest level of winter sports, a discipline typically dominated by Italy’s Alpine north. He will compete at the Cortina Para Snowboard Park in snowboard cross and banked slalom. What began on the Apennine slopes will reach its peak in Cortina. “Snowboarding literally saved my life,” he told Paralympic.org. “So snowboarding for me is everything.” In 2020, he became the first Italian with a disability certified as a snowboard instructor, extending that passion to young athletes with and without disabilities. Montemurlo has named him Athlete of the Year three times. His approach is measured. “I just need to believe a little bit more in my skills and be focused, sharp and know I can do it,” he said. “I’m very excited for Cortina and can’t wait to compete, but at the same time I’m taking it easy, trying not to stress too much.” The stakes are clear. “A Paralympic medal would mean that I make it into the history books,” Luchini said, “and that’s exactly what I want.” The Paralympics run through March 15.

The bus from Montemurlo left before dawn. For years, Jacopo Luchini rode it alone, a teenage boy missing his left hand, snowboard tucked under his arm, making the hour-long journey through the Tuscan hills to the Apennine slopes. At 15, his aunt gave him a gift, a trip to the mountains. “One day, my aunt gave me a special present, saying, ‘I will take you to the mountains’, and I can still remember the first time I stood on a snowboard,” Luchini told Paralympic.org in January. “I was very excited, and it was amazing.” That single trip became an obsession. “Snowboarding was born from a personal search,” he told La Repubblica in 2020. “Mine wasn’t a family that could afford to take me to the mountains, so I started organising myself.” He graduated from the University of Florence in 2017, made Italy’s national team, and became the country’s first overall para snowboard World Cup champion in 2019. The victories accumulated, 41 World Cup podiums, two overall titles, and four World Championship medals in 2023. Yet the Paralympic medal has escaped him. He finished fourth twice at PyeongChang 2018, where he missed bronze by three-hundredths of a second. At Beijing 2022, he finished fifth. Now 35, Luchini faces his third Paralympic Winter Games. The Milano Cortina Paralympics open March 6, and the medal that has eluded him waits less than 200 miles from where those bus rides began. This time will be different. For the first time, Luchini will compete in front of Italian supporters. Friends and family from Montemurlo will travel to Cortina d’Ampezzo, taking the same journey to the mountains he once made alone. “It will mean a lot for me,” he told Paralympic.org. “We don’t have that many competitions in Italy, it’s usually far away, so Milano Cortina will be the first time I’ll have my friends and family supporting me. It’s going to be very special.” For Florence and the Tuscany region, Luchini represents something rare, a local athlete competing at the highest level of winter sports, a discipline typically dominated by Italy’s Alpine north. He will compete at the Cortina Para Snowboard Park in snowboard cross and banked slalom. What began on the Apennine slopes will reach its peak in Cortina. “Snowboarding literally saved my life,” he told Paralympic.org. “So snowboarding for me is everything.” In 2020, he became the first Italian with a disability certified as a snowboard instructor, extending that passion to young athletes with and without disabilities. Montemurlo has named him Athlete of the Year three times. His approach is measured. “I just need to believe a little bit more in my skills and be focused, sharp and know I can do it,” he said. “I’m very excited for Cortina and can’t wait to compete, but at the same time I’m taking it easy, trying not to stress too much.” The stakes are clear. “A Paralympic medal would mean that I make it into the history books,” Luchini said, “and that’s exactly what I want.” The Paralympics run through March 15.