Kristian Ghedina
Ghedina in January 2000 | ||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men's alpine skiing | ||
Representing Italy | ||
World Championships | ||
1996 Sierra Nevada | Downhill | |
1991 Saalbach | Combined | |
1997 Sestriere | Downhill |
Kristian Ghedina (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjan ɡeˈdina]; born 20 November 1969) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. His thirteen victories are the most by an Italian downhill specialist in World Cup history. He is currently an auto racer.
Career
Ghedina was born in Cortina d'Ampezzo in the province of Belluno, and his mother tongue is Ladin.
He studied in Innsbruck and made his World Cup debut in 1989. The following year, after a series of initial podiums and a ruinous fall, he won the last two downhills of the season. He won the silver medal in the Combined race of the 1991 World Championships at Saalbach, Austria; however, the following year he suffered a serious car crash.
Ghedina returned to his best form only in 1995, remaining among the best specialists in the speed disciplines until 2001, when he obtained the last of his 13 World Cup victories (12 Downhills and one Super-G, with a total of 33 podiums).[1] He won also another silver medal at the 1996 and a bronze in the 1997 championships, both in downhill.
After his last World Cup victory he kept on racing for another 5 seasons, reaching 15 top ten results, two of them podiums.
His probably most remarkable performance he gave on 24 January 2004 at the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel: on the last jump, approaching the finish line at a speed of 137,6 km/h, he produced a straddle in the air ("spread eagle") which amazed spectators and TV commentators; nevertheless he gained a temporary lead in the race, which he finished sixth in the end.[2]
Ghedina retired from ski racing following the 2006 season.
He has raced a BMW in the Italian Superturismo Championship and, driving a Lola, in the Formula 3000 International Masters.
In 2012 he started working with the Croatian national ski team, advising the team on the alpine speed disciplines.[3]
World Cup results
Race victories
Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | 3 Feb 1990 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | Downhill |
15 Mar 1990 | Åre, Sweden | Downhill | |
1995 | 20 Jan 1995 | Wengen, Switzerland | Downhill |
25 Feb 1995 | Whistler, British Columbia, Canada | Downhill | |
1997 | 21 Dec 1996 | Val Gardena, Italy | Downhill |
11 Jan 1997 | Chamonix, France | Downhill | |
18 Jan 1997 | Wengen, Switzerland | Downhill | |
1998 | 4 Dec 1997 | Beaver Creek, CO, USA | Downhill |
24 Jan 1998 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | |
1999 | 19 Dec 1998 | Val Gardena, Italy | Downhill |
2000 | 17 Dec 1999 | Val Gardena, Italy | Downhill |
5 Mar 2000 | Kvitfjell, Norway | Super-G | |
2002 | 14 Dec 2001 | Val Gardena, Italy | Downhill |
Season standings
Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | 20 | 15 | – | – | — | 6 | 7 |
1991 | 21 | 22 | – | 32 | 19 | 11 | 6 |
1992 | 22 | 43 | – | – | 39 | 15 | 29 |
1993 | 23 | 57 | – | – | – | 27 | 20 |
1994 | 24 | 40 | – | – | 39 | 19 | 7 |
1995 | 25 | 7 | – | 32 | 7 | 2 | – |
1996 | 26 | 15 | – | 46 | 10 | 8 | 5 |
1997 | 27 | 4 | – | – | 5 | 2 | 6 |
1998 | 28 | 11 | – | – | 10 | 6 | – |
1999 | 29 | 20 | – | – | 36 | 8 | 9 |
2000 | 30 | 4 | – | – | 8 | 2 | 8 |
2001 | 31 | 60 | – | – | – | 21 | — |
2002 | 32 | 10 | – | – | 15 | 3 | 12 |
2003 | 33 | 98 | – | – | 57 | 36 | – |
2004 | 34 | 49 | – | – | – | 20 | – |
2005 | 35 | 32 | – | – | 34 | 12 | – |
2006 | 36 | 35 | – | – | – | 10 | – |
Video
- YouTube.com – victory (and crash) at Wengen – 1997-01-18
- YouTube.com – spread eagle at Kitzbühel – 2004-01-24
References
- ↑ Ski-db.com – Kristian Ghedina – accessed 9 March 2010
- ↑ shown on YouTube-Videos - one in German followed by an interview, the other one in French
- ↑ "Ivica Kostelic and Kristian Ghedina team up at Colmar". International Ski Federation. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
External links
- Kristian Ghedina at the International Ski Federation
- FIS-ski.com – World Cup season standings – Kristian Ghedina
- Ski-db.com – results – Kristian Ghedina
- Sports Reference.com – Olympic results – Kristian Ghedina
- ghedina.com – personal site – (Italian)