Veronica Yoko PLEBANI (ITA)
Italy
Age:
29 years
Languages:
Italian, English, German
Federation:
FEDERAZIONE ITALIANA CANOA KAYAK FICK
Biography
Further Personal Information
PLACE OF RESIDENCE
Palazzolo sull'Oglio
OCCUPATION
Athlete
WHEN/WHERE DID YOU START CANOEING/ KAYAKING?
I started kayaking in 2012 at 16 years old at the Kayak Canoa Club Palazzolo in Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Italy.
REASON FOR TAKING UP THE SPORT
I started paddling to recover from my illness. Canoeing allows me to be an athlete, in idea conditions to give the best of me, and when I'm sitting on my kayak I feel like I'm in the place to be, to be myself.
After her illness she took up canoeing as she lived only 200 metres from a club on the river Oglio in Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Italy.
HOBBIES
Dancing, music and cooking
CLUB
Kayak Canoa Club Palazzolo
NAME OF COACH
Stefano Porcu [national]
NATIONALITY OF YOUR COACH
Italy
SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN COACHED BY HIM/ HER?
She took up Para canoeing in 2012
TRAINING REGIME
I use to train two times a day, in the morning I go out with my kayak and my trainer for the first session, then I do some stretching then I go to eat and to get some rest before the second session in the afternoon. In the afternoon, I do gym and paddling, but it depends on the day... sometimes I take a bike ride for warm-up or something similar.
SENIOR INTERNATIONAL DEBUT YEAR
2013
SENIOR INTERNATIONAL DEBUT COUNTRY
Germany
SENIOR INTERNATIONAL DEBUT COMPETITION
Paracanoe World Chamionship
SENIOR INTERNATIONAL DEBUT LOCATION
Duisburg
MEMORABLE SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT
Since now, my qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Summer Games. Winning a gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Brandenburg, Germany.
PREFERRED POSITION / STANCE / STYLE / TECHNIQUE
sitting on my kayak
MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON IN CAREER
my father
TRAINING PARTNER(S)
Mathilde Rosa
HERO/IDOL
New Zealander paddler Lisa Carrington
SUPERSTITIONS/ RITUALS/ BELIEFS
I hate when someone before the race tells me that I will win.
SPORTING PHILOSOPHY/ MOTTO
"Replace words with actions."
FAVOURITE PADDLING COURSE
Szeged (Hungary)
FAVOURITE FOOD
every kind of vegetables
FAVOURITE MUSIC
R&B or old school hip hop
AMBITIONS
To win a medal in snowboarding at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
AWARDS AND HONORS
I became the first Italian woman to ever participate at a Paralympic Games in Snowboard, and I will also be the first woman to represent Italy at the paralympics in Paracanoe.
CLASSIFICATION
KL3
OTHER SPORTS
She competed in Para triathlon at the 2017 European Championships in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and participated in snowboarding at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.
