Ottobock ‘Pit Crew’ Comes in Clutch in Milano Cortina
By Jennifer Davis
Paralympians train for intense competition on an international stage, but they can’t do it alone: A team of O&P professionals, wheelchair technicians, and welders prepare behind the scenes for a similarly intense career highlight.
A delegation of 87 professionals from 17 nations will convene at the 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy as part of Ottobock’s technical repair services. These individuals will serve as the “pit crew” to support competitors by providing free repairs and tune-ups for protheses, orthoses, wheelchairs, and sports equipment so athletes can perform at the highest level.
Peter Franzel, Ottobock’s head of events, exhibitions, and sport, oversees the planning and set-up of the company’s fully equipped repair service centers in the three Paralympic Villages—Milano, Predazzo, and Cortina. Additionally, emergency workshops will be set up at all six sports venues to ensure fast and reliable on-site support during the competitions.
Ottobock—the longest-standing partner of the International Paralympic Committee—has provided technical service at every Paralympic Games since Seoul 1988. Two years ago, more than 3,000 repairs were completed at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, and many of the staff from that event will travel to the repair stations in Italy—bringing their experience and lessons learned with them.
Franzel has been to each summer and winter Paralympics since Beijing in 2008. At each event, Franzel explains, Ottobock team members collaborate to accomplish necessary repairs in a new environment where the stakes are high.
[O&P] Staff at the repair stations work minor miracles when athletes face unexpected device or equipment crises.
“They work together with colleagues they [may] only know via the internet and training sessions, and then they have to perform at their best—because when you work with athletes in the Paralympic environment, there is no chance for a second try,” Franzel says. “It’s a beautiful environment and very special, but also very new to the people, and they have to really perform at their best to support the athletes.”
Maintenance and repairs that would take days to weeks in a typical clinical environment must be completed within hours at the Paralympic Games, Franzel says. The rapid, 24-hour pace has been likened to the on-track repairs made by pit crews in auto racing.
Before, during, and between events, O&P professionals repair straps on orthoses and fix cracked or ill-fitting prosthetic sockets. Residual limb volume changes can be significant as athletes dial in their diets and push themselves in their final workouts leading up to the games. They even provide support for athletes’ everyday devices.
Staff at the repair stations work minor miracles when athletes face unexpected device or equipment crises. During the Paris Summer Games, for example, Ottobock saved the day for a Korean wheelchair badminton competitor whose wheelchair frame broke the night before his first competition.
“Think: You are the athlete,” Franzel says. “You trained hard, you qualified, you came to Paris, you did everything, and then just one night before competition, you have a massive problem with your equipment. So, then it’s where we jump in.”
When an airline lost a cross-country skier’s custom ski sled in transit to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, Ottobock came through, constructing a brand-new sled.
Franzel says the overall vibe of the Paralympics is amazing to experience, from the festive atmosphere in the Paralympic Villages, to the pride on display at the Opening Ceremonies, to the camaraderie among the athletes, and the unique environment where it’s the norm to have an assistive device.
But the best part of the Paralympic Games, says Franzel, is having athletes return to the workshop after their competitions to share their successes with the Ottobock team.
“When they come after the event and they won bronze, silver, or gold, and then they come back and say, ‘You helped me with my prothesis, and I was able to win this medal,’ this is very rewarding and very touching also.”
What He Packed:
Franzel made sure to pack his plush Paralympics mascot, Milo.
“I’m a little bit of a nerd on this topic,” he says. “I love the mascots.”
In fact, Franzel has one from every Paralympics he’s attended. He added Milo to his collection a year ago, as soon as the stuffed toys became available to purchase. Milo was a fixture in Franzel’s office as he prepared to construct and staff massive workshops at the Paralympic venues and will serve as a good luck charm during the Games.
Milo and his Olympic Games counterpart, Tina, are stoats—a small type of weasel. The 2026 mascot was selected by Italian schoolchildren to represent athletes’ resilience, speed, and ability to adapt.
Read more O&P Almanac coverage of the 2026 Paralympic Games:
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