Le 13 vittorie di una carriera sempre al limite: dal poker sulla Saslong al trionfo di Kitz

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The 13 victories of a career that is always on the limit: from poker on the Saslong to the triumph of Kitz

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Our video-tale of all the pearls of the most successful downhill skier in the Italian history.

Wednesday 20 November 2019 13 minutes reading time

Kristian Ghedina enclosed in ... 13 victories. Clear, the Cortina d''Ampezzo champion was much more, for all sportsmen and not, but those 12 pearls signed in free descents of the World Cup, in addition to the only success obtained in super-g, on the snow by Kvitfjell. From No. 13 to No. 1, in order of ... specific weight. 13) Are - March 15, 1990 - Free descentThe second gem in the World Cup arrives on the Swedish snow, at the end of a sensational 1989/90 season, after the triumph of Cortina. Ghedina folds a great like Franz Heinzer, spaced by 27 cents, while behind the Swiss there is Helmut Hoflehner, almost half a second from the sea that that day in Are, becomes in effect already an ace of the descent . 12) Val Gardena - 21 December 1996 - Free descent The first seal on the Saslong is one of those unforgettable for the "Ghedo" and the whole Italjet, fresh from the golden years of Runggaldier, Perathoner, Vitalini. In the season in which he will miss the downhill World Cup, the fifth hurray arrives in the maximum circuit triumphing in the Gardena downhill right in front (at 23 cents posting) to that Luc Alphand who, in March, will tear the crystal ball. On the podium also Josef "Pepi" Strobl, the various Skaardal, Knauss, Vitalini end up almost a second ... 11) Whistler Mountain - February 25th 1995 - Free descent Those who say that Ghedina is able to win only in ideal weather conditions, is punctually denied on the Canadian snows. A month after the rebirth of Wengen, the Cortina downhill racer takes what will be his fourth Cup victory, emerging with a great finale from the Whistler fog: burned by 11 cents Lasse Kjus, who loses two tenths from Ghedina in the last 20 seconds of pure smoothness and with jumps managed by the maestro from the blue, while the giant Patrick Ortlieb will place third at 21 cents. 10) Val Gardena - 19 December 1998 - Free descent Second masterpiece on the Saslong, at the end of a race that sees Ghedina knock down the Austrian army, which seemed invincible, even if in the second place there is the usual Lasse Kjus, preceded of only 14 cents, with Werner Franz third in front of Hermann Maier and Kjetil Andre Aamodt. 9) Chamonix - 11 January 1997 - Free descent In the most successful year, with three descents brought home in less than a month, Ghedina is confirmed in Chamonix, taking on a daring success. Kristian loses the grip of the stick at the start, in his opinion he commits many, too many errors in the management of the jumps on the legendary "Verte" and, not surprisingly, an incredible Atle Skaardal earns him tenths on tenths in the final race, finishing for only one penny behind him. With Werner Franz third at 11 cents and Luc Alphand only fifth, the fight for the downhill cup is again wide open ... 8) Beaver Creek - December 4, 1997 - Free descent It is the first time we run on what will become a classic white circus track, the "Birds of Prey" designed by Bernhard Russi and which is inaugurated in view of the championships of the world of Beaver Creek 1999. On a bright sunny day, the "Ghedo" begins the season as best it could, limiting the damage on the central wall and then lashing out from the Golden Eagle's leap forward. Second at 22 cents Jean-Luc Cretier, who in that season will then become Olympic champion of descent in Nagano, third at 24 Lasse Kjus, just ahead of a string of Austrians who will then dominate the vintage (a good 8 from 4th to 12th place, with only Runggaldier in 7th place). In that Italian evening, however, only the light of Kristian Ghedina will shine. 7) Val Gardena - December 17th 1999 - Free descent The hat-trick on the Saslong is a record for Ghedina, who triumphs with the maximum advantage in career after having literally torn up the competition, first of all an Austrian army, in a day of polar cold and in which the choice of bib number 29 and materials will be perfect. "Pepi" Strobl finishes second at 1 "35, the Canadian Podivinsky third at 1" 38 and all the other big ones even further back ... 6) Kvitfjell - March 5, 2000 - SuperGiantThe only career victory in a Super-g Cup, with a real masterpiece on the very fast final stretch of the Norwegian Olympic track. The "Ghedo" bends the king of the specialty, Hermann Maier, and the other Austrian Andy Schifferer, interrupting the hegemony of the Wunderteam that had lasted for almost two years. 5) Cortina d''Ampezzo - 3 February 1990 - Free Descent At just 20 years of age, the first victory in the World Cup arrives in the second part of an already extraordinary season, which sees the "Ghedo" on the podium in Val Gardena and Schladming. He arrives in his Cortina two weeks after a terrible blow suffered in Kitzbuehel, with a newly disposed concussion and two broken ribs, but he triumphs in the descent on the Olympia delle Tofane surprising everyone, burning the Swiss Daniel Mahrer for 16 cents and preceding 21 the Austrian Helmut Hoflehner, with a certain Pirmin Zurbriggen in 5th place ... 4) Wengen - 18 January 1997 - Descent Libera Ghedina is in a form to say the least stellar, fresh from the triumphs in Gardena and Chamonix. On the Lauberhorn, a legendary encore arrives two years later. Luc Alphand folds for 13 cents, at the end of a new exciting duel, but the post-arrival fall that sees the blue suffer a good blow will condition him in the following weeks. 3) Val Gardena - December 14th 2001 - Free descent At 32, many give Ghedina for finished. Then comes that track, "his" Saslong, and here is poker served on the day of his last World Cup success. Kjus must again bend, the blue triumph is completed by the 3rd place of the young Kurt Sulzenbacher and the ampezzo reaches at 4 successes in the very classic Gardena a certain Franz Klammer ... All with the bib No. 12, "like the my victories downhill ". 2) Wengen - 20 January 1995 - Free descent Kristian is back, as fast as and more than before, despite that terrible car accident in April 1991 that broke his career in two. In the vintage of the five podiums and the World Cup downhill lost in the last race in Bormio, the first triumph in a great classic like Wengen turns out to be magic, if we think that Ghedina takes the Lauberhorn trimming 85 cents a Austrian Rzehak and 1 "20 at the other eagle, Hannes Trinkl. 1) Kitzbuehel - 24 January 1998 - Free descent The first Italian to triumph in the descent on the Streif. This is enough to underline the fact that January 24, 1998 is a historic day for blue skiing: the most beautiful race, the most awaited, ends up in the hands of a phenomenal "Ghedo" able to make money in the final private section of the Hausbergkante, those 14 cents enough to push back Didier Cuche's assault, dropped after him and forced to renounce a legendary encore (after the success of 24 hours before) in the ski temple which, later, the Swiss will conquer five more times. That day, however, before the Austrian people, the podium says Italy-Switzerland-Austria.