 |
Dario Mosconi takes a break from watching
gymnastics to proudly display his handmade
banner referring to the "Impossible is Nothing"
contest; his winning the Italian Challenge and
moving on to the global finals awarded him a
trip to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
[Photos courtesy Alessandro
Mosconi] |
Special Olympics Italy athlete Dario Mosconi,
who was one of 14 global finalists in an online
contest by adidas, unfortunately
received word that he was not the overall winner
in October.
The "Impossible is Nothing" Challenge (The
Challenge) global final winner was scheduled to
be announced in early August; it is perhaps an
indication of how difficult the choice was that
the winner has only just been posted on the Web
site: Lloyd Townsing of Australia with his entry
"A broken neck or an opportunity?" < View previous
news article and photos about Dario
Mosconi's entry >
 |
 The
adidas Web site's "Impossible
is Nothing," campaign featured Dario Mosconi as
a finalist. Right, Mosconi proudly
wears his Special Olympics Italy T-shirt in his
entry video, which could be viewed on the site.
Excerpts from
adidas' letter to Mosconi: "'lmpossible is not for everybody,
for somebody it is more' — the title of your
story says it all...Your willpower, courage and
dedication provided an inspirational story so
strong that online users voted you and your
story into the global final.
"You
can imagine that is was a very close decision
and even though any of the stories selected for
the global final deserved to win, [and] even
though your story was selected to be in the
global final by online users from all over the
world who were moved, inspired and motivated by
your achievements, it was unfortunately not
selected...
"Dario,
thank you for sharing your story. You have been
an incredible inspiration to people from all
over the world and you have proven to yourself
and everybody else that 'Impossible is Nothing!'
For that and your dedication we want to thank
you once again and wish you all the best for
your future!"
|
"We obviously are a little bit sad that
adidas didn't consider the big amount of votes
that Dario's story was able to collect from all
over the world," said Alessandro Mosconi,
Dario's father. His profile ended with a final
score of 3.78, the highest of the 14 entries
(and from the time the contest began his profile
often held the highest rating of the daily
tabulations). "In the same week Dario knew that
he wasn't chosen as an Italian participant in
the 2005
Special Olympics World Winter Games
— and this was certainly a bigger disappointment
for him! Nevertheless he said, 'I'll try to do
my best in the future to be able to have another
chance.' We hope that during the challenge
Dario's story contributed to give more
visibility to Special Olympics ideals and the
organization."
For winning the Italian Challenge, Mosconi
received a three-day trip to Athens in August to
watch the 2004 Olympic Games, a trip he and his
father termed "wonderful."
Each of the The Challenge entrants was judged
on how he or she has personally achieved the
seemingly impossible through the pursuit of
sport. The contest was open worldwide to
athletes in participating countries between the
ages of 13 and 19. Mosconi, now 16, wrote about
conquering one of the highest mountains in the
Italian Alps when he was just 13 years old. Two
of the finalists were submitted by individuals
with physical disabilities; Mosconi was the only
individual with an intellectual disability.
< Mosconi
has written
his own "Meet our Athletes" profile for
Special Olympic >
Dario's ascending Castore, one of the highest
Mountains in the Italian Alps, "was an
exceptional performance, so it produced
extraordinary results," said Alessandro Mosconi,
"both in terms of positive self-image and
people's opinion of him, his potential and
abilities — and [Dario being voted the winner of
the Italian Challenge] directly proved this
fact.
 |
While in Athens Dario and his father
Alessandro Mosconi also took in historical
sights. |
"We thank Special Olympics, whose mission is
to make possible through sport practice and
competition the complete integration of our
special athletes in the community, and adidas,
which supports Special
Olympics Italy and allows this
challenging target to become a little bit 'less
impossible.'"
The athlete judged the overall winner could
chose from the following unique sport
experiences: a private workout with swimming
star Ian Thorpe in Australia, a tennis session
with world-ranked player Justine Henin-Hardenne,
a free-kick practice session with football
(soccer) star David Beckham, or one week of
intensive training at the Athletic Performance
Institute in Arizona, USA; Townsing chose the
session with Beckham.
Townsing's winning entry: "About two and one
half years ago, I was involved in a terrible
snowboarding accident leaving me with a broken
neck and smashed vertebrae. I was lucky enough,
by only one millimeter, to escape paralysis or
even death. However, the injury left me with
nerve damage, leaving me with constant
'tingling' and somewhat uncontrollable movement
in my arms. The doctors were forced to attach a
contraption to my head whereby four bolts were
screwed into my skull for three months. Stepping
back into the water months later, I was only
able to kick and eventually, strokes started
again, then turns, and in time I had to overcome
my fear of diving into the water head first. I
continued to improve and recover. Now, in only a
few weeks, I'll be competing at the Australian
Olympic swimming trials where I'll race against
some of the world's best, an achievement many
thought not possible. In living through this
accident, I now strive towards becoming my best,
becoming the best — and becoming what doctors
thought impossible.
In answering the question "what do you think
others can learn from your story?" Townsing
replied, "At that exact moment of impact, I
thought my life was over. It wasn't though.
Seize each day and opportunity, because one day,
they will be our last." | 
