Barely an hour passes at the Ottobock repair shop in Cortina without a Paralympic athlete dropping off damaged equipment. From wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs to race suits, Peter Franzel and his 85-strong team are the difference between an athlete fulfilling their dream or suffering heartbreak.
"The athletes arrive in good shape, and then one day before their event something happens to their equipment," Franzel, head of the round-the-clock operation for Ottobock, the official technical service partner at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics, told Reuters. "In that case the journey cannot be over. That's why we are here. We find the solutions so they can focus on their sport."
Heading into the final weekend, the highly skilled Ottobock technicians have already carried out nearly 400 repairs. These range from simple tire inflations to complex modifications on sit ski suspension systems. The team recently built a customized carbon-fibre cast for an American snowboarder with a broken arm and altered racing suits for athletes requesting short versions due to warm weather.
Franzel, who has worked at every Paralympics since 2008, stated, "So far here at Milano-Cortina, we have not come across anything we haven't been able to fix." With over three decades of experience, the team's expertise in patient care and research and development ensures they can handle any challenge.
While some larger nations bring their own technicians, Ottobock often works directly with athletes. The workshop includes a waiting area for quick repairs, with a television broadcasting the games. "If you are changing the alignment on a prosthesis, it's very important to get it right," Franzel noted, emphasizing that athletes usually do not have spares.
Challenges overcome include building a custom thumb orthosis for a French para-skier and crafting a new fingertip for a Bulgarian athlete's prosthesis. Franzel added, "When the athletes come back in here with their medals in the mornings, it's very satisfying."