On January 28, University of California researcher Matteo M. Garbelotto-Benzon will carry the Olympic torch through Canazei, a town in Italy’s Dolomites where he grew up. Accompanying him will be his service dog, S’Abba, who played a key role in his recovery from a serious injury.
Garbelotto is among approximately 10,000 individuals selected to participate in the 63-day, 7,500-mile relay that brings the flame from Olympia, Greece to Milan and Cortina for the 2026 Winter Games. He believes their participation may mark the first time a service dog has walked alongside someone with a mobility disability during an Olympic torch relay.
The upcoming event holds personal significance for Garbelotto. He recalled hearing stories from his father about the 1956 Cortina Winter Games and described how skiing is an integral part of life for locals in the region: “When you grow up in a village of 300 souls, with a glacier less than an hour away, skiing is in your blood,” Garbelotto says. “Skiing for people who live in the Alps is not just for the elite, it’s for everybody.”
Although he enjoyed ski racing as a youth, Garbelotto said being outdoors was his main motivation. This passion led him to study forestry and eventually become a professor at UC Berkeley and specialist with UC Cooperative Extension. He is known for co-discovering Sudden Oak Death alongside David Rizzo of UC Davis—a disease that has caused significant damage to California’s coastal forests.
In March 2018, Garbelotto suffered a severe ski accident that fractured his vertebrae and left him using a wheelchair at times. Months later he experienced a pulmonary embolism while conducting research in Tahoe—an event he links to his earlier injury. While recovering in Sardinia and uncertain if he would walk independently again, Garbelotto met S’Abba—a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever mix abandoned by a neighbor.
“I thought she could maybe help me walk better without always having to use a cane,” Garbelotto says.
He began training S’Abba as a service dog focused on mobility and balance support. The partnership enabled him to return to fieldwork on foot and skis.
“I am so proud that S’Abba may be the first service dog to help a person with a mobility disability walk with the torch for the Olympics,” Garbelotto says. “It says so much about the importance of these companions in the world of sports. In Italy, only guide dogs for the sight-impaired are fully acknowledged, so I am really proud she was selected.”
Garbelotto admitted some uncertainty about whether they would be chosen or where they would participate: “I worried as an American that they would simply assign me to any place, so I was a bit nervous,” he says. “When I found out I would be carrying the torch in the Dolomites I was so happy and thankful I started crying.”
“My whole life has been about growing up [in] the forest and the mountains, and I’m so grateful that I have been successful in doing what I love and able to transfer my passion to California,” Garbelotto says.
He also shared memories of searching for edelweiss flowers with his father: “I know this is corny,” Garbelotto says, “but in that place [where he is carrying the torch], on a high pass, my dad shared with me when I was 4 a secret place where edelweiss grow. Every year, until I was an adult, we would go look at them.” He added: “I still remember the secret directions, but I can’t tell you.”
Garbelotto and S’Abba are scheduled to carry the flame through Campitello di Fassa on January 28 at 11:50 am local time. Updates on their journey can be found via MilanoCortina2026 Instagram or on the official Milano-Cortina 2026 webpage.
Supporters interested in helping older guide dogs or service dogs can contribute through GoFundMe. More information about Garbelotto’s research as director of UC Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory is available at www.matteolab.org.
