AW promotion: Talented thrower is supported by Neuff in his quest to reach the Paralympics in future

Neuff is proud to support athletes from every background and has a long history of working with young athletes of every ability. We are celebrating the start of the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics by looking at where champions start… as junior athletes!  We talked to 17-year-old shot putter and discus thrower Fabio Zamparelli – a name we are sure we will hear much more of at the Paralympic Games in a few years’ time.

Introducing Fabio

“I am working towards being an Elite Para Athlete and representing GB at future Paralympics,” he says. “I compete at National Level in the F20 classification in shot put and discus.

“In 2019 and 2020 I was ranked U17 UK No.1 in both shot put and discus F20 category. In 2019 I competed in three national championships where I won four golds, one silver and one bronze. Also in 2019, I won two golds in the county championships. I am the current record-holder for U17 discus F20 category and this year won the 2021 Redruth Charity Trust Youth Sports Award in Cornwall.”

Current athletics focus?

“I train six days a week: three days are technical training and three days in the gym for strength and conditioning,” Fabio explains. “That is on top of one hour of general mobility exercises every morning before I start the day.

“In October 2020 I was selected on to the England Athletics Youth Talent Programme. This is a two-year national pathway programme which will lead on to the Junior Athlete programme then on to a senior programme – a total of five years elite sports performance pathways.

“Due to my success in both 2019 and 2020, I was selected on to the British Athletics Paralympic Development Academy in December 2020, which will prepare me for senior international competition.

“This season I have entered the under-20 category and my goal is to be UK No.1 in this age group too. So far in 2021 I have won two gold medals and became national champion at the Disability National Championships.

“I also came first in the under-20 Cornwall Schools Championships and I was a silver medallist at the South West Inter-Counties Championships. This month I competed at the England Athletics U20 National Disability Championships and threw a PB of 12.83m (6kg shot).”

Neuff has been working with para athletes for decades.

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Training through lockdown

“In 2020, even though it was a challenging year due to lockdown, I continued to find ways to train.  I trained at home and in parks, ensuring I kept to a disciplined training schedule.  This enabled me to become stronger, faster, more powerful and explosive, as well as having improved my throwing technically. Last year also saw me winning the England Throws Camps Virtual Discus Drills competition in conjunction with Neuff, receiving first prize from world-class leading athletics equipment supplier Nelco.

“After restrictions had eased, I managed to attend five competitions in 2020, which saw me improve my combined throwing distance in both discus and shot by 11 metres!  I set county records and I came first in my first international virtual competition, run by South Africa Athletics Club.”

What do you do away from the throws circle?

When I am off the track or not in the gym I am remotely studying for my DiSE (Diploma in Sporting Excellence) at Loughborough Sports College. This is a two-year course and has been funded by British Athletics. This term I have been studying in depth about nutrition, sports psychology and anti-doping.  I am very lucky to have GB sprinter Martyn Rooney as my course mentor. I do find the course challenging, but I am fully supported and I find creative ways to learn.

“I am part of an Elite Sports support group, which meets every month online and enables me to ask questions to and be supported by leading GB senior athletes, most of whom were at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I’m also currently attending Truro College, where I do football, dance, fitness and well-being as well as maths and English.

“My other achievements include gaining my bronze, silver and gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards.”

Have you always been a throws athlete?

“I played rugby for three years as a flanker (number 7) and represented my county three times. My first ambassador role was as a Young Rugby Ambassador. This role would have seen me travel the county promoting rugby to disabled school children. I would have also created a team and an advertising campaign with England Rugby, Cornwall Rugby and the Cornish Pirates Rugby Team. Unfortunately, Covid-19 prevented all of this.”

What does the future hold for you?

“My long-term goal is to represent GB at the Paralympics. My immediate future goals are to prepare myself physically and technically to have a successful under-20 first season.

“A goal without a plan is just a dream! So, my coach and I have been busy and have a specific plan to complement my technical training and development, which will continue into the season.

“Once a month I travel to Loughborough Elite Sports High Performance Centre and Bath University to receive specialist training for my events, delivered by top national and Paralympic coaches.

“I compete in both mainstream and para competitions.”