Paralympian proposes to girlfriend after motorcycle accident led to death of first wife

Paralympian Alessandro Ossola got engaged to his partner, Arianna Mandaradoni, at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

After being eliminated in the men's 100m T63 heat on Sept. 1, Ossola, 36, then made his way over to Mandaradoni in the stands where he knelt down on one knee and asked her the big question.

“You’re crazy!” Mandaradoni responded, according to Olympics.com, before saying, “Yes.” The two then shared a kiss in front of the big crowd.

On Sept. 2, World Para Athletics shared a pic of the proposal on Instagram alongside a quote from Ossola detailing the support he's received from Mandaradoni.

“She always follows me during my competitions," he said. "I met her in Sanremo (Italy) in 2019 during a summer where I just wanted to be relaxed and I was not looking for anything. Life is strange. Sometimes it unbends your journey on an incredible day, even when it seems that things are not working well."

Ossola opened up more about their relationship in an interview with Olympics.com.

“Our relationship is like a maelstrom because every athlete needs people around them to push them," he said in the Sept. 2 story.

"Sometimes she believed in me more than I believed in myself, and that’s something truly amazing. ‘You can do it, you can succeed, you can, you can,’ she would say," he continued. "This is something everyone needs, and I hope that everyone finds someone like her. She is my partner ... for life."

Ossola lost the majority of his left leg in a 2015 motorcycle accident that also led to the death of his first wife. Despite these tragic events, Ossola was able to push forward.

“Sport gave me a way to take action and a way out of a very dark period," he said. “After my accident, I lost a lot — everything but my smile — but sport pushed me to smile more and more."

“I’ve come full circle now," he added. “I started this journey years ago, not only in sports and athletics, but also in life. With what I’ve achieved in these last days at the Paris Paralympics, I feel like I’ve closed that circle. Now, I’m ready to start along a new path because my life isn’t over, and I have many things left to do.”

At the 2024 Paralympics, Ossola completed in the first round of the men’s 100m T63 event and was eliminated after coming in fifth place in his heat with 12.46 seconds. Ossola previously competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he finished in sixth place after advancing to the finals.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com