ROMA It will be Francesco Imperio (photo above from the Facebook page Asd Nemo Cosenza) to carry the Italian flag on the occasion of the inaugural ceremony of the European Para Youth Games 2022, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday 30 June, at Pajulahti Hall. Born in 2008, Imperio is originally from Cosenza and lives in Montalto Uffugo. A newcomer to the EPYG, he will compete in the 100 meters of the T64 category. The curtain therefore opens on the most important youth Paralympic competition in Europe, open to athletes aged between 12 and 23, which will take place in Pajulahti, Finland, from tomorrow until July 4th. This year will be the sixth edition after those of Brno, in the Czech Republic, of 2011 and 2012, of Varadzin, Croatia, of 2015, of Genoa and Savona of 2017 and of Pajulahti of 2019. Twenty-nine nations present, approximately 500 athletes competing.
The blue team comes to this appointment with a group of 61 athletes (45 boys, 16 girls, with an average age of 18) engaged in 7 different disciplines: swimming, athletics, bowls, judo, showdown, wheelchair basketball, table tennis. Italy will have to defend the extraordinary result obtained in 2019, when it won 44 medals (15 golds, 16 silvers, 13 bronzes) and above all the first place in the general classification. The competitions, scheduled at the Pajulahti Olympic and Paralympic Training Center and the Mäkelänrinne Swimming Center, will begin for all disciplines on Friday 1 July. The athletes and all the members of the blue team will wear EA7 Emporio Armani, partner once again alongside Italy in the international Paralympic competitions. The Italian Paralympic movement deserves thanks to Giorgio Armani and his group “for the sensitivity and support offered in recent years”.
«The Epyg are an important appointment for our movement. It is the event that gives many young athletes and many young Paralympic athletes the opportunity to get involved in an international context and to deal with many peers from all over Europe. For many of them this is their first experience away from home, and for this reason I think it is a time of great educational value. We have a strong and competitive group that we hope will give us a lot of satisfaction. But the most important thing is that everyone can return to Pajulahti with a baggage full of emotions and motivation. These girls and boys represent the future of Europe. A future that, especially at this moment, we hope will be one of peace and friendship among peoples, ”said Luca Pancalli, President of the Italian Paralympic Committee.
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