Alpine Skiing#leodavid #david #leonardodavid #fisi #fisski
The celebrations that Gressoney-La-Trinitè paid to David David, for the 90 years of the one who founded the Gressoney Monte Rosa Ski Club, immediately bring to mind the memory of someone who could rewrite the history of Italian Alpine skiing.
Monday 25 February 2019 7 minutes reading time
His son Leonardo, born on 27 September 1960 in Gressoney-Saint-Jean before the family moved to the hamlet of La Trinitè, right at the foot of Monte Rosa, was in fact one of the purest talents expressed in the last half century, considered by everyone the heir to Gustav Thoeni and the one who would have opposed Ingemar Stenmark's dominance, before an immense tragedy took him away from his world first and then his family.
With his candid face and fluttering curls, Leo soon became the idol of his valley, which he followed and sustained in a simply impressive ascent. Not even 18 years old, the talent of Valle d'Aosta had already conquered the 1978 European Cup, earning the chance to become part of that Blue Avalanche that was experiencing a generational change and, in the eyes of the leader Mario Cotelli, had seen Leo David in the future .
The 1978/79 World Cup takes place in Schladming, on December 9th, 1978, with a giant slalom: it is decided to let David make his debut in the maximum circuit, the result is simply resounding. Behind Ingemar Stenmark and Peter Luescher, who will win the "famous" cup thanks to the new regulation that penalized the Swedish champion, in third place there is him, Leo da Gressoney, 2 "13 from Ingo and just 2 cents in front of the Swiss Fournier.
Two weeks pass and the second podium finishes in CdM, this time in the slalom of Kranjska Gora with another 3rd place, followed by the second place of Jasna, always in slalom, behind Phil Mahre and in front of Stenmark. Two days pass, and on 7 February 1979, Leonardo David conquers his first and only victory in the World Cup, burning for 7 cents Ingemar Stenmark in the slalom of Oslo, which sees another absolute champion as Phil Mahre finish in third place. A star is born, there are no more doubts.
Leo also has the speed in his DNA, he is a big rally enthusiast and is not afraid to jump downhill, even admitting that he "has to improve a lot in his fluency". It thus presents itself to the descent of the Italian championships in Cortina, and it is the beginning of an absurd end: the day of the trial of the tricolors is 16 February 1979, when David falls and beats his head.
In the following minutes he felt a sense of vertigo and a strong pain, moving to Lecco to perform the neurological tests (but not the Tac, which was carried out only in some hospitals), which gave a negative result. He was prescribed only a few days off, and then taken to the United States to try the descent of Lake Placid, which a year later would host the Olympic Games. Leo continues to have a severe headache, struggles to train but does not give up his dream and trusts the judgment of the doctors of the federation: March 3, 1979, during the World Cup race then won by the Austrian Wirnsberger, the valdostano bass and falls, a few meters from the finish line. A trivial fall, however, beating his head again: David gets up, crosses the finish line on a single ski, then he loses his senses in the arms of Piero Gros. He is transported to Vermont, subjected to three operations within ten days after the head injury suffered, but has now plunged into a state of alert coma in which he lost every reflection, not even recognizing his family, from dad David to mom Mariuccia and her sister Daniela, who will look after him for the next 6 years, lived in a vegetative state.
He tried the whole family of Leo, including the 'intervention in Innsbruck, relying on a luminary such as prof. Franz Gerstenbrandt, who will see how the champion suffered from a hematoma due to the fall of Cortina, another element that led to a legal case with the Fisi, for which a criminal responsibility in the management of the athlete was not established.
Of course, there is that on February 26, 1985 he left the potential star of Italian skiing and a guy with a great desire to live, love skiing and his mountain.
#LEODAVID #DAVID #LEONARDODAVID #FISI #FISSKI
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