Para trap pioneer Emilio Poli on how the sport transformed his life

When Emilio Poli took his shotgun out of the safe for the first time since the motorcycle accident in 2013 — it had been sitting there untouched for over a year and a half – it was more than just a return to sport. It was return to himself.

Left with an amputated left leg and loss in muscle power in one arm, the Italian doubted he would ever shoot again — or even stand steadily with a shotgun. But curiosity got the better of him.

“Seeing my shotgun sitting idle in the safe was painful,” said the 56-year-old from Gavardo, near Lake Garda in northern Italy.

“I told myself that rather than keeping it like that, it would be better to sell it. But first, I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t be able to use it again.”

He went to the Trap Concaverde range in Lonato del Garda – one of Italy’s main hubs for trap shooting – and cautiously loaded a single cartridge, unsure if the recoil might knock him off balance. 

“Surprise, I didn’t fall – and I really liked it,” Poli said.

The army veteran, who had served in the Italian military for 25 years, had picked up trap shooting in 1999, casually practising the sport until the accident.

“It was a chance to get together with friends and colleagues a couple of times per month. Nothing serious, just something that brought people together,” he said.

When he discovered Para trap shooting in 2014 – then called Para clay target shooting – Poli knew he was home. And it wasn’t long before that he found his purpose.

“It was a dazzling encounter; cheerful people of all ages and from many parts of Europe and the world, a great willingness to share, beautiful smiling faces – a unique spectacle. I decided it was my sport, and it would help me improve my life despite the injuries,” he said.

Breaking prejudice

At first, however, Poli felt like an outsider on the shooting range. He was visibly injured, with a leg brace and one arm often limp in his vest pocket.

“People looked at me, studied me, but kept their distance. Partly out of ignorance, partly out of fear. Maybe they just didn’t know what to say,” he said.

The turning point came when another shooter, Claudio, asked to train with him.

“A great friendship was born. Now that he’s passed away and I feel a void that is impossible to fill but since that day, many others have become my friends,” Poli said. 

“I’m fortunate to have a very ironic personality and the ability to laugh at myself. That helped the walls of prejudice crumble.”

⚡ EPIC ⚡

🎥 Emilio Poli 🇮🇹 Lonato 2021 #ParaTrap World Champs. #ShootingParaSport @Paralympics @CIPnotizie pic.twitter.com/Daent7Kpg3

— Shooting Para Sport (@ShootingPara) February 2, 2022

Back representing Italy

In 2015, just a year after discovering the Para scene, he got his first national team call-up. It was a moment that remains one of the most powerful in his life.

“I served my country for 25 years. After losing my job due to the accident, I couldn’t believe I could wear the Italian flag on my chest. I cried like a child,” Poli recalled with pride.

He made his World Championships debut at the Lonato 2018 World Shooting Para Sport Para Trap Championships, where the Italian team struck gold in the team PT3 mixed trap class on home range.

In the individual PT3, he finished sixth but one year later, at Sydney 2019 Worlds, he went on to claim a bronze medal. The journey reached its peak at the 2021 World Championships, once again on home soil in Lonato, where Poli claimed the gold medal in the PT3 class.

But success comes at a price. The physical strain of training and competing led to sores and injuries on his stump.

“If I wanted to continue with this sport, I’d have to do it in a wheelchair,” said Poli.

Olympic collaboration

He now competes in the P1 category, attributing a lot of his achievements to his mental strength.

“Para trap is a physical and tiring sport, but it is above all a mental sport. When I’m in a competition, the only opponent I try to beat is myself,” he said.

Italy’s success in the sport, he said, stems from both culture and infrastructure. The national federation, FITAV, was among the first to embrace and help to shape Para trap.

“Italy got started first. FITAV studied and created what is now Para trap and it’s one of the very few sports in the world where you can train alongside Olympic medallists, talking to them, getting advice.”

But the international field is catching up quickly. According to Poli, the level of competition has risen dramatically since Para trap became an official World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) discipline in 2017.

“Athletes now must cover training and travel costs themselves, on top of the physical effort. That alone tells you how passionate and driven this community is,” he said.

Next steps

With the 2025 Para Trap World Championships in Brno, Czechia, scheduled for this September, he refuses to take anything for granted. Not even his participation.

“It’s not me – or at least not the athletes – who decides who goes to the World Championships,” he said, adding that he would be more than willing to go should he be selected.

“Which athlete doesn’t dream of participating in the World Championships?”

With just six places in the final, reaching the podium in Brno will be more difficult than ever. But if Poli competes, he will do so with confidence and pride, not only as a former world champion, but as a representative for the entire Para trap movement.

Since his 2021 triumph, Poli has become more involved off the range and is now a certified Trap and Para trap instructor. Last year, he was elected to the WSPS Athletes’ Committee and recently joined the Italian Paralympic Committee’s national council as an athlete representative, hoping to grow the sport and bring a new generation into it.

During the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup, he did a joint interview with his idol, Olympic silver medallist Silvana Stanco, at a training session in Lonato to promote Para trap.

“Silvana is my idol – both as an athlete and as a person. She’s genuine. We always greet each other warmly and chat when we meet,” Poli said, adding that they both have something to learn from each other.

“It was beautiful and fun, and we had a lot of laughs. I give her perseverance and consistency. She gives me the ability to stand on one leg,” he concluded.