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LOGO Calendar 2026 – March: Ambra Sabatini
On 5 June 2019, the young Tuscan athlete Ambra Sabatini was riding her motorcycle to training on Monte Argentario when a bend in the road and a car crossing into her lane changed her life forever. In that moment – between the asphalt, the helicopter and the hospital – one thought crossed her mind: “What if I can’t walk properly anymore – how will I ever run?” Soon afterwards, another possibility emerged: “If they amputate it, I can return to the track.”
After watching Paralympic competitions with her father and finding inspiration in athletes such as Martina Caironi, Sabatini never stopped running. “Stopping was never an option. I knew I would make it.“
Ambra, born in Tuscany in January 2002, is just that kind of person.
Someone capable of becoming the fastest sprinter in the world and setting her sights on the Paralympic Games just over a year and a half after the amputation that took her leg – but not her dreams or her future. Her mindset has always been the same: “One thing has never changed – ambition. I wanted to reach the highest level.” It was 5 June 2019. School was about to end, helmet on, riding with her father towards training along the roads of Monte Argentario.
From the first steps to a new discipline – prosthetics and a clear goal
She spent just over two months in hospital, undergoing treatment and rehabilitation. She did not want to lose anything – not a thought, a feeling or a state of mind – so she downloaded an app to keep a diary of sorts. On 8 August she returned home: “It was summer and I love the sea. The first thing I did was go to the beach to swim. That was all I could do – I still didn’t have a prosthesis.” That came in September, with another hospital stay. “It was difficult. I didn’t feel like it was part of me. It was heavy and walking was hard. Even today it’s easier for me to run with blades.”
While still in hospital, she began researching the Paralympic movement, sports prosthetics, competitions and championships.
Thanks to the association art4sport, of which she is a member, she received her running prostheses.
Ambra – sprint in mind
Her first race was in Jesolo at the end of the summer. It was 11 September – the same day she had begun walking again a year earlier. She finished third in the 100 metres behind the two best sprinters in the world.
Her first victory came at the Italian Athletics Indoor Championships in Ancona – gold in the 60 metres, ahead of the very same two sprinters she had faced just months earlier. But the following month brought a trip to Dubai for the Athletics Grand Prix – and there she achieved not only gold but also the world record in the 100 metres (in the T63 category – for athletes with an above-knee amputation) with a time of 14.59.
“I believe that every imperfection can tell the story of who we are. I have scars on one arm – I like them, they are part of my story. Ever since I was little I wanted to be unconventional, which might even be the source of my decision to practise sport. I believe diversity makes the world more beautiful. We should never be ashamed of who we are.” Reflections also shaped by the support of a wonderful family – her father Ambrogio, her mother Lorenzina and her twin brother Lorenzo, who loves football. She would become one of the great sensations of the Japanese Games. Already deeply involved in the Paralympic movement, she said: “I want to show those who may have gone through experiences like mine that sport can help us realise it is possible to live a full and happy life, whatever our circumstances. If my results can help with that, then that’s enough to make me happy. And if the medals come as well, even better.”
International debut and world record – an unstoppable rise
At the Dubai Grand Prix she ran the 100 metres in the T63 category in 14.59, setting a new Paralympic world record and securing qualification for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
And it was precisely in Tokyo that she won her first world title. She took gold in her category with a time that set another world record, surpassing the one she had achieved in Dubai.
On 13 July 2023 she won gold at the World Championships in Paris, once again setting a world record with a time of 13.98. In 2024 she reached the final at the Paris Paralympics but, after a fall in the final metres, was unable to secure a place on the podium.
The message behind the records – diversity, inclusion and mental strength
Ambra Sabatini is not only a champion – she is a symbol. “Scars tell the story of who we are,” she said. “Diversity makes the world more beautiful. We should never be ashamed of who we are.” Her journey shows that sport can be a way to live a full and happy life – in any condition.