Giorgio Di Centa
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's cross country skiing | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 2006 Turin | 4 x 10 km | |
| Gold | 2006 Turin | 50 km | |
| Silver | 2002 Salt Lake City | 4 x 10 km | |
| World Championships | |||
| Silver | 2005 Oberstdorf | 15 km + 15 km double pursuit | |
| Bronze | 1997 Trondheim | 4 x 10 km | |
| Bronze | 1999 Ramsau | 4 x 10 km | |
Giorgio Di Centa (October 7, 1972, Tolmezzo, province of Udine) is an Italian cross country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race. He is brother to Olympic gold medallist Manuela.
Giorgio Di Centa began to practice cross country skiing very early, in a family in which his elder brother Andrea was also a professional skier. At the age of 16 he became a member of the Junior team of Italy, practicing for the Carabinieri sport team. In 1995 he entered the Senior team of Italy. He finished 8th in the 30km event at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
After a silver medal at the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in the double pursuit and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in the 4 x 10 km, Di Centa, who had never won an individual race in the Cross country World Cup, arrived in great shape for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He would finish a disappointing fourth in the 30 km double pursuit, losing a medal at the finish to fellow Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer. The two were also key players in the strongest Italian relay team ever, winning gold in the 4 x 10 km race. Di Centa's greatest victory was in the 50 km race where he defeated Russian Eugeni Dementiev by 0.8 seconds, the closest 50 km event in Olympic history, eclipsing Thomas Wassberg's 4.9 second victory over Gunde Svan (both Sweden) at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. The medals ceremony for the 50 km occurred during the Closing Ceremonies where Di Centa's sister, Olympic medalist Manuela Di Centa, presented him with the gold medal.
[edit] External links
1924: Thorleif Haug * 1928: Per Erik Hedlund * 1932: Veli Saarinen * 1936: Elis Wiklund * 1948: Nils Karlsson * 1952: Veikko Hakulinen * 1956: Sixten Jernberg * 1960: Kalevi Hämäläinen * 1964: Sixten Jernberg * 1968: Ole Ellefsæter * 1972: Pål Tyldum * 1976: Ivar Formo * 1980: Nikolay Zimyatov * 1984: Thomas Wassberg * 1988: Gunde Svan * 1992: Bjørn Dæhlie * 1994: Vladimir Smirnov * 1998: Bjørn Dæhlie * 2002: Mikhail Ivanov * 2006: Giorgio Di Centa
1936 Finland Sulo Nurmela, Klaes Karppinen, Matti Lähde, & Kalle Jalkanen
1948 Sweden Nils Östensson, Nils Täpp, Gunnar Eriksson, & Martin Lundström
1952 Finland Heikki Hasu, Paavo Lonkila, Urpo Korhonen, & Tapio Mäkelä
1956 Soviet Union Fyodor Terentyev, Pavel Kolchin, Nikolay Anikin, & Vladimir Kuzin
1960 Finland Toimi Alatalo, Eero Mäntyranta, Väinö Huhtala, & Veikko Hakulinen
1964 Sweden Karl-Åke Asph, Sixten Jernberg, Janne Stefansson, & Assar Rönnlund
1968 Norway Odd Martinsen, Pål Tyldum, Harald Grønningen, & Ole Ellefsæter
1972 Soviet Union Vladimir Voronkov, Yuri Skobov, Fyodor Simashev, & Vyacheslav Vedenin
1976 Finland Matti Pitkänen, Juha Mieto, Pertti Teurajärvi, & Arto Koivisto
1980 Soviet Union Vasily Rochev, Nikolay Bazhukov, Yevgeny Belyayev, & Nikolay Zimyatov
1984 Sweden Thomas Wassberg, Benny Tord Kohlberg, Jan Ottosson, Gunde Svan
1988 Sweden Jan Ottosson, Thomas Wassberg, Gunde Svan & Torgny Mogren
1992 Norway Terje Langli, Vegard Ulvang, Kristen Skjeldal & Bjørn Dæhlie
1994 Italy Maurilio De Zolt, Marco Albarello, Giorgio Vanzetta & Silvio Fauner
1998 Norway Sture Sivertsen, Erling Jevne, Bjørn Dæhlie, & Thomas Alsgaard
2002 Norway Anders Aukland, Frode Estil, Kristen Skjeldal, & Thomas Alsgaard
2006 Italy Fulvio Valbusa, Giorgio di Centa, Pietro Piller Cottrer, & Cristian Zorzi
Categories: 1972 births | People from Friuli-Venezia Giulia | Living people | Italian cross-country skiers | Competitors at the 1998 Winter Olympics | Competitors at the 2002 Winter Olympics | Competitors at the 2006 Winter Olympics | Winter Olympics medalists | Olympic gold medalists for Italy | Olympic silver medalists for Italy
