Double success for Pierluigi Bomberg: Para-athlete sets Dutch record and signs contract with Reggeborgh Foundation
Pierluigi Bomberg had a successful summer. First, the para-athlete broke the Dutch record in the 100 metres at a competition in Leverkusen, where he set his personal best at 11.44. He also signed a sponsorship contract with Reggeborgh Foundation, which will include him in its Groene Appeltjes programme.
‘I feel honoured to be collaborating with Reggeborgh Foundation. I think it's great that Reggeborgh recognises the power of para-sport and is so committed to it,’ says 27-year-old Bomberg, who came into contact with Reggeborgh Foundation after meeting Inge Wessels at the Papendal athletics track.
Pierluigi Bomberg has been training intensively as a para-athlete at Papendal for three years now. Athletics brought light back into his life after he lost his left lower leg in an industrial accident at the age of 19. ‘After a very dark period in my life, I found something that I could put my energy into again. Being able to run on an athletics track became a ray of hope for me.’
Inge Wessels: ‘What particularly appealed to me in Pierluigi's story is his resilience. I greatly admire how he found the strength to turn his life around after his accident. Sport is so important; athletics has given him a new purpose in life.’
During his rehabilitation, Bomberg learned to walk with a blade. This gave him a sense of freedom. ‘It feels like I'm flying through the air when I run. I don't think about anything else, just the race. I don't hear anything either, I'm really in a tunnel,’ says the athlete, who used to play basketball and football before his accident. ‘I've always been athletic, but I had never tried athletics before.’
- Pierluigi Bomberg
The man from Tilburg native proved to have a talent for sprinting in particular. ‘The 100 metres is where my love lies, but the 200 metres is also getting better and better.’ Pierluigi is close to running the World Championship limits. ‘I've already made significant progress. At the start of the season, my fastest time was 24.23, and I've now improved my time enormously to 23.30! That's only 0.10 seconds off the World Championship qualifying time! My ultimate goal is the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, and I'm working towards that.’
