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The Swiss champion has cut an important milestone: his story in the eyes and in the heart of Antonio Di Giovanni, whom we met to make us say everything about an unusual skier
Thursday 11 April 2019 10 minutes reading time
The 50 years of Michael Von Gruenigen, a true, pure champion, raised in the mountains of the Bernese Oberland, in that village that meets the name of Schonried, where on 11 April 1969 was born one of the greatest gigantists in the history of the skiing.
There are 23 victories (all between the wide doors) obtained by MVG in the World Cup, 48 podiums, 4 specialty cups, with 2 world gold medals in Sestriere '97 and St. Anton 2001 and bronze at the Nagano Olympics ''98 but, above all, a style and a character unique in the world of snow. Whoever writes there knew only the Von Gruenigen champion, the one who fought with absolute champions such as Tomba, Kjus, Aamodt, Maier, Raich and many others, but one evening in Madonna di Campiglio, on the occasion of the World Cup slalom last 22 December, it was enough to understand even Mike the man.
The almost casual encounter with Antonio Di Giovanni, a great fan of snow and, we will discover later, fan number 1 of the Swiss champion, now represents the occasion, on the day of this anniversary, to tell all the fans some special anecdote related to Von Gruenigen, to increasingly appreciate the all-round champion.
"Mike was all but a character - tells us Antonio - Shy, reserved, serious, humble, never over the top. When in 1994, during a commentary, I heard that MVG was living in the Bernese Oberland, I looked for information on his provenance, discovering that Schonried was very close to Thun, my hometown in which I often return (Di Giovanni lives in Montesilvano, in the province of Pescara). When journalists branded Mike that he was too quiet, never to smile, maybe they should have read his story: it must not have been easy to be left mum and dad, respectively, when Mike was 6 and 9 years old, for a volley electric and for a tractor accident. The parents were both ski instructors and had decided to start their little child in a career as a skier: the premises were good, but the tragic events will forever mark the temper and character of the small champion, who later grew up thanks to the support of his sister Christine, also a competitive level skier. His style and crystalline class have thrilled thousands of fans, but personally I was struck by the character that saw him grow up to be great, despite all the problems of a tragic and depressing childhood, to say the least.
And here we go into the details of a special relationship, created between Mike and Antonio. "I began to get more and more interested in the exploits of this champion - Di Giovanni tells us - up to the point of writing him letters to let him know that he had special fans as he was. We are back in '96, the Adelboden giant has just spotted; social networks did not exist, there was hardly a 56k modem, so I take a pen and paper and write to Mike how much it fascinates me to see it winding through the wide doors and how much joy it gives me to see him win, and that I did not see the ' time to see him compete live. Said and done, from '97 and continuously for the years to come, I had the good fortune to admire it in his temple, Adelboden, where incredibly he no longer won ... Not bad, the privilege of being able to approach him, to be able to tell him in person how much it was an unparalleled satisfaction ". The beauty will come a few years later ... "When Mike was still in full swing and, above all out of the World Cup season, a paper correspondence took shape. I always wondered why a super champion lost time answering my letters: maybe he felt the sincere sense of my words, especially when there were rumors of his retirement intentions and I started to tell him that he still had so much to give to himself and to his fans, that the physical ailments, like the dislocated shoulder, were passengers and that the super Austrians would sooner or later lower the level. And so it was, 2001 in St. Anton came the second gold medal in giant, as if to confirm the theories of a super fan who did not want to surrender to the fact that he no longer admired his favorite champion. Since I have a passion for drawing, I sent him a picture I did drawing a picture of him in action: in response he thanked me, telling me that he would hang it in the center of the house. The correspondence also allowed me to send greetings for the birth of each of her 3 children; at the birth of Noel, the eldest son now in the World Cup, I sent him a game for newborn babies as a sign of good wishes and Mike responded with a photo of the newborn baby with many thanks. With the end of a legendary career approaching, I have repeatedly told Mike that I dreamed of his red bib, the symbol of who holds the record in the specialty ranking; I don't even know how many times I've asked him, conscious it was an unrealizable desire ... or not? One day I was contacted by the Post Office, who asked me to go and pick up a parcel returned to the sender, but I had not sent any parcels to anyone in the last few months: I found myself in front of a pretty bulky envelope waiting for me, thinking over the I took and went in the car, opened it to the side and saw the twisted red breastplate. A whirlwind of emotions assailed me, even today almost twenty years later I have goose bumps and lumps in my throat, I humble fan, always kind and discreet, rewarded with one of the most expensive items to the champions of the Cup Ski world. The letter with which Mike accompanied the bib ("you asked me many times for this bib, now I have decided to send it to you hoping to make you happy") makes a fine show of itself in the center of my house, symbol of a special friendship and of infinite respect. To this day I have the pleasure of meeting him again in his role as testimonial of Fischer in that of Adelboden, and with the advent of social networks I can follow the evolution of his life which I hope he reserves for him and returns to him what it was taken from him during his childhood. "
A special story, which we hope you enjoyed and shared to the end.
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