A UC Berkeley professor and his service dog will carry the Olympic flame
January 27, 2026 •
Matteo M. Garbelotto-Benzon and his service dog, S’Abba, pose in the Dolomites as both prepare to carry the Olympic torch on its journey to Milan to open the 2026 Winter Games.
(Credit: Courtesy photo)
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, University of California researcher Matteo M. Garbelotto-Benzon will go for a walk in the crisp cold of Canazei, a town near where he was raised in Italy’s Dolomites mountain range. His feet may crunch fresh snow in view of the Alpine peaks that inspired his career in forestry. The difference this time? In one hand, he’ll hold the Olympic torch — and in the other the lead of S’Abba, the service dog who helped him walk, and ski, again.
Garbelotto is one of about 10,000 people chosen to take the torch on its 63-day, 7,500-mile relay journey from Olympia, Greece, to Milan, Italy, which will co-host the 2026 Winter Games with Cortina, in the Italian Alps. Garbelotto believes his and S’Abba’s relay journey could make history as perhaps the first time a service dog will walk side-by-side with a person with a mobility disability carrying the flame, something that seemed impossible to Garbelotto just years ago.
Read the whole story by UC Newsroom
Tags: disability, Matteo M. Garbelotto-Benzon, Olympics, service dog, UC Berkeley
