Para snowboard: A day of training with Italy's Jacopo Luchini

Italy’s surfing Para snowboard world champion Jacopo Luchini has shifted focus to the sport that is his “big love” as he aims for glory on home soil at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

The 35-year-old athlete from Prato in the Tuscany region, started competing in the snow sport after watching it at Sochi 2014. Now he hopes to make his third Paralympic Winter Games an extra special event.

“A Paralympic medal would mean that I make it into the history books and that’s exactly what I want,” Luchini said.

Preparing for a home Games

Having made his Paralympic debut at PyeongChang 2018 and competed without fans in the stands at Beijing 2022 during the pandemic, Luchini will be pushed by support from the home crowd as he chases his first Paralympic medal at the Cortina Para Snowboard Park.

“It will mean a lot for me,” he said.  “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. There are more advantages to competing at home.

“I really believe a lot in healthy food, my diet, doctor and nutritionist,” Luchini said. “Now I’ll be sure to have my Italian food, my pasta and proteins, which is very important. The food is a part of the preparations and of the game.”

‘Snowboarding saved my life’

Luchini was around 15 when he started snowboarding. While he took up different sports, including swimming and martial arts, when he was young, he did not discover the slopes until he was a teenager. Already “very passionate” about surfing and skateboarding, he had for a long time been dreaming about snowboarding.

“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. I was very excited and it was amazing,” he said.

“Snowboarding literally saved my life, so snowboarding for me is everything.”

A day in a life of a Paralympian

Luchini’s training days are different, depending on whether he is up in the mountains with the team, or at home. 

“With the team, we are training more techniques. We would have a very early alarm in the morning, at 6:00, or even before that.,” Luchini said. “We go snowboarding (in the morning), either in the snowboard cross course, or, for banked slalom, with ‘stubbies’ (gates) and timings.”

They finish training at around lunchtime and go back to their accommodation. After lunch and rest, athletes focus on different training.

“I could perhaps first go to the physiotherapist, then for a gym session with a personal trainer and meditation with a mental coach. We also do an analysis activity with the coaches, which is very important.”

After all activities, the snowboarders wind down a little, often in the sauna.

“It’s not just the training in the morning with snowboard – the afternoon usually takes a long time and a lot of energy,” Luchini said.

The days also end early. The athletes have dinner together, enjoy some time together, often watching a movie or reading. They try to go to sleep at around 21:30, Luchini explained.

Source of energy

At home in Tuscany, the daily routine is a little different but still with an early start. He goes to the gym for a session with his personal trainer, finishing around midday. After that, it’s time for lunch at home.

“I cook for myself because I have a very strict diet. I eat a lot of pasta, about 200g per meal. I like the carbs for my activities and to gain some weight because in snowboard cross, that is important,” he said.

Luchini's favourite pasta is seafood carbonara – a contemporary twist on the classic Italian dish that has picked up popularity in Tuscany. But with the quantities needed for a top-level athlete, he usually makes something lighter.

“I try to eat it very healthily and my pasta is very simple. Sometimes I just boil the water, put vegetables in, boil 250g of pasta and then add some fresh olive oil and parmesan cheese, and that’s it,” he said. “It’s very healthy, but for sure it is not my favourite.”

Afternoons at home usually start with a post-lunch rest before deciding what kind of training to do next.

“I could go skateboarding or surfing. I live in Tuscany and if the swell is coming, I’m lucky to be able to choose between surfing or the gym,” he said. “The waves aren’t there every day so when they come I usually go surfing. But most of the time at home, I’m training hard in the gym with my personal trainer.”

He says his training also involves a lot of time spent with a mental coach.

“I have a lot of mental training. I do imagery, visualisation, some relaxing techniques – many things.”

Meeting up with friends, to play padel or just hang out, helps him relax after a busy day. 

Snowboarding meets skateboarding

To be a world elite surfer and snowboarder at the same time is a balancing act in more than one way.

“It’s not that difficult to practise the two sports,” Luchini said. “Of course, it could be better to just do one sport for the whole year. I used to go on the glacier also in the summer, but now with climate change, and me getting older and needing to rest after the winter, surfing is a good way to recover.”

The two board sports can benefit each other, technically and mentally, even though there are a lot of differences between catching waves and sliding down a hill.

“The two sports help each other and are very similar in some aspects, at least when you are a beginner. When you get to the next level, they are very different,” Luchini said. “But the main point is that when you’re practising a sport at a high level, you sometimes need to rest, switch off your mind and do something different. Surfing has helped my body and mind.”

When the snowboarding season is over, many of his competitors leave the slopes for monotonous workouts elsewhere. For Luchini, the summer trainings are a bit more upbeat. He has spent the past three summer seasons soaking up the sun in Bali, Indonesia.

“It gives me the same emotions and happiness as snowboarding. I always have a lot of fun,” he said. “But the priority is always the preparation for the next snowboard season. Surfing is then a good physical activity to keep me fit.”

A star of a home Games

The highlight of Luchini’s career came at the FIS Para Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, in March 2023, when he won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze, triumphing in the men’s snowboard cross SB-UL and snowboard cross team event. 

At the Paralympic Winter Games, however, he has yet to make it to the podium, having finished fourth in the snowboard cross SB-UL and in the banked slalom SB-UL at PyeongChang 2018. Four years later, his best result at Beijing 2022 was a fifth place in the banked slalom.

“I just need to believe a little bit more in my skills and be focused, sharp and know I can do it. I don’t think there’s that much to think about – I just need to go there and take it,” he said.

But first, he has several weeks of training ahead of him and does not think too much about what can become the Games of his life. Luchini has not made any big changes in his preparations coming into this Paralympic season, apart from perhaps having a few more days on snow this winter.

“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 or put too much pressure on myself. I stay focused and move forward. I know what I have to do.”

At the Games, he hopes for a good course, with lots of natural snow.

“If all these things happen, I am sure that it will be amazing for everyone,” he said. “I hope that I can do my best riding ever, but every athlete will aim to do that.”

Secure your tickets for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games  

Milano Cortina 2026, which takes place from 6-15 March 2026, is set to be the most beautiful Paralympic Winter Games yet. Ticket prices start at EUR 10 for children under 14, with approximately 89 per cent of the tickets available for EUR 35 or less.

For more information, please visit tickets.milanocortina2026.org