Not just sponsors, Paralympic sport goes beyond competitions

The Paralympic flame shines in Milan and Cortina and will do so again, even after the closing ceremony on Sunday. Because the feeling is that this Paralympic Games has set in motion financial and emotional resources. The 56 Italian sponsors, who have linked up with the Milano Cortina Foundation for a revenue target of around 550 million, have not limited themselves to appearing in the five circles or the three agitos. The communication involved internal actions or broader projects, such as those linked to the path of the flame from Stoke Mandeville: 'The journey, with 501 torchbearers for 2,000 km, was an important commitment in terms of investment and organisation and is our way of sharing the awareness that sport includes,' says Valentina Sestan, head of Olympic and Paralympic Partnership at Allianz Italia. The insurance group, one of the 11 top global sponsors, has been linking its name to the International Paralympic Committee since 2006: "In order to support winter sports, the Umana Mente Foundation supports the G Team, young promising Paralympic skiers with a view to 2030, and has promoted training courses for ski instructors on the use of aids dedicated to people with disabilities, encouraging an innovative approach to teaching skiing".

Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, a premium partner of the Games, also participated in the journey: 'We experience great emotions in working with the non-profit organisations supported by the group. I'm thinking of the projects in the world of prisons, in social canteens, for people with disabilities," says Chief Social Impact Officer Paolo Bonassi. "But the flame was something even more intense: a unique moment that encapsulates in just a few minutes all the values underpinning our programme. Which is also expressed in a valuable work that everyone should have on their desktop: The Right Words - Media and People with Disabilities, the glossary for an inclusive language culture available on the group's website.

One sponsor that has supported top-level sport for so long is the Armani Group. It has been dressing the Azzurri since London 2012: 'The partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic National Team is an authentic expression of Armani's enduring commitment to sport, elegance and national heritage,' explains Giuseppe Marsocci, CEO and Managing Director of the Armani Group. - And supporting Paralympic athletes means celebrating a form of performance that goes beyond sporting achievement, becoming a powerful symbol of resilience, dignity and cultural progress. This Olympic and Paralympic initiative is not an isolated project, but the cornerstone of a long-term vision to strengthen the link between Armani and sport".

Skiing and pursuing freedom are the lessons told by the Azzurri in these days and which return in the words of Lorenza Pigozzi, Fincantieri's Strategic Communication Director: "In 2023, we launched 'Respect for Future', to strengthen our commitment to recognise, prevent and eliminate all forms of violence, promoting equality, respect and individual freedom. And the sponsorship of the Milano Cortina is part of the focus on fragile categories'. Just as the design of every ship starts from the mind, has a body and the technology that moves the ship, so, Pigozzi continues, 'technology supports disability and the lost limb gains it in the courage to overcome difficulties. As will also happen in the suburbs of the cities of the shipyards soon to be affected by the social project 'Territories', to offer inclusion, or as happened to the people with disabilities who boarded the Spirito di Stella, a fully accessible catamaran driven by disabled skipper Andrea Stella. On that boat, the integration of worlds is realised.