Matteo Cattini
Matteo Cattini is an Italian Paralympic Para Powerlifting athlete, born in Mantua in 1984. He competed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and has been an ambassador for the Italian Paralympic Committee since 2019. He is linked to Turin through his collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino and with the Officina Ortopedica Maria Adelaide, a Piedmontese company active in bionic prostheses [1][2].
Biography
Cattini lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident in 2008, at the age of 23. He took up weight training as part of his muscular rehabilitation, which later turned into competitive sport [1][2].
In Para Powerlifting he has won ten gold medals at the Italian Championships. Together with Martina Barbierato, he was one of the first Italian weightlifting athletes to compete at the Paralympic Games, a milestone reached in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 after twelve years on the national team. Since 2019 he has been an ambassador for the Italian Paralympic Committee. After his athletic career he became an employee and coach of the Italian Weightlifting Federation and works with the company Ottobock [2].
The meeting at the Politecnico di Torino
On 30 October 2026 the Politecnico di Torino dedicated a lecture to the evolution of prostheses for amputees, addressed to third-year students of the Biomedical Engineering degree programme, as part of the Mechanical Bioengineering course taught by lecturer Cristina Bignardi. The meeting was attended by Matteo Cattini together with the Officina Ortopedica Maria Adelaide, the only centre in Piedmont accredited for the Genium X4 bionic knee [1][2].
During the lecture the Officina Ortopedica Maria Adelaide also presented the Zeus bionic hand, which students were able to try out using a simulator. Cattini described his path after the accident, stressing the role of family and friends in overcoming the trauma and describing bionic prostheses as tools that allow a "normal" life. For Roberto Ariagno, director of the Officina Ortopedica Maria Adelaide, Cattini's testimony shows "how, and in what way, barriers must be broken down" [1][2].
The collaboration between the Politecnico di Torino and the Officina Ortopedica Maria Adelaide, according to lecturer Cristina Bignardi, has continued since the early 1990s through teaching and research projects [2].
Chronology
- — The Politecnico di Torino hosted a lecture on the evolution of bionic prostheses for Biomedical Engineering students, with the participation of Paralympic athlete Matteo Cattini and the Officina Ortopedica Maria Adelaide. → ANSA Piemonte Il Torinese
Related articles: Lecture on bionic prostheses at the Politecnico di Torino
Sources
- Politecnico, le protesi bioniche entrano in aula: incontro con un atleta paralimpico — ANSA Piemonte, 30 October 2026
- Il campione di Para Powerlifting Matteo Cattini ospite al Politecnico — Il Torinese, 1 November 2026