Alpine Skiingthe birthday of a legend
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A special birthday for our skiing: we celebrate King Gustavo, symbol of the "Blue Avalanche" that wrote history.
Sunday 28 February 2021 4 minutes reading time
From Trafoi, where the climb to the Stelvio Pass begins to get steeper, to the skiing legend signed by his four World Cups, from the double gold to the Sankt Moritz '74 World Championships, preceded by gold Olympic giant in Sapporo ''72 (and silver in slalom), followed by second place in the slalom of the Innsbruck Games' '76, when together with Piero Gros he signed a one-two that, in some way, closed the circle of those incredible years driving the Blue Avalanche.
Gustavo Thoeni is the myth that never sets and today that he is toasting to 70 years of life, it is right to celebrate him thinking that, precisely on February 28, 1967, he triumphed at the student championships in Cortina, making everyone understand that a great one was about to arrive. skiing, from a very young age on the most important stages. "I won the slalom on my birthday, then the giant 24 hours later", said the ace of Trafoi in an interview granted to "skimania" in recent days, just to celebrate the anniversary.
He won in Cortina on the slopes where 11 years earlier his childhood myth, Toni Sailer, had written history with the three titles on the occasion of the 1956 Cortina Olympics. How many stories does King Gustavo still have to tell, not only related to his unparalleled career on skis, but also to that of technician alongside Alberto Tomba, whom he pampered and launched, but also managed, at the highest levels as his worthy heir.
"I still feel young, I only have some pain in my knee - he said in recent days - Now we find ourselves dealing with this dramatic situation linked to the pandemic, our Hotel Bella Vista, which manages my daughter Petra, has been closed for months. . We will overcome this too, already last summer we demonstrated that we know how to live with the virus. I will get vaccinated as soon as possible, it is a civic duty and the only way out.
Just think, this season was the first time I didn't ski at Christmas: the sadness of the closed lifts is immense, for all the people who work in the mountains and make sacrifices ”.
From the eternal rival Stenmark to Klammer, from Russi to “Paco” Ochoa, “but it was above all the internal competition that made us grow day after day, with Gros, Pietrogiovanna, Schmalzl, De Chiesa. And we are all still friends ”.
With such a leader, even for human depth, it could not be otherwise: the blue ski owes him a lot. Happy birthday, King Gustav!
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