Interview with Sara Minkara, US State Department Disability Advisor

Sport has “incredible power” to promote disability inclusion in society.

That was the idea at the centre of a meeting on Tuesday between Sara Minkara, Special Advisor on disability at the US State Department, and Athletica Vaticana.

Ms Minkara, who was appointed directly by President Joe Biden, was in Rome to discuss preparations for an upcoming G7 summit on disability, to be hosted by Italy later this year.

Special Advisor Minkara spoke at length with Athletica Vaticana’s Sara Vargetto, an Italian high school student and athlete.

Vargetto, who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis when she was just 18 months old, uses a wheelchair to race. Recently, at the Italian indoor championships, she won gold medals in the 60m, 200m, and 400m events.

Vargetto showed Special Advisor Minkara her racing wheelchair, and the pair shared an emotional embrace. At the end of their encounter, Vargetto gave Ms Minkara a relay baton signed by Pope Francis.

Speaking to Vatican News, Special Advisor Minkara said that sport allows people with disabilities to “really tap into their self-identity, their empowerment, their teamwork, their engagements with others.”