The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA. It was soon backed by International Ski Federation president Marc Hodler during the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 at Portillo, Chile, and became an official FIS event in the spring of 1967 after the FIS Congress at Beirut, Lebanon.
Michael Saul Medved is an American radio show host, author, political commentator, and film critic. His talk show, The Michael Medved Show, is syndicated from his home station KTTH in Seattle. It is syndicated via Genesis Communications Network.
David Sergio Trezeguet is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships between 1991 and 1999, making him the most successful male cross-country skier in history.
Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Medved is a Ukrainian-born Soviet Belarusian retired freestyle wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union and was named "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" by FILA, the sport's governing body. Between 1962 and 1972 he won three Olympic gold medals, seven world and three European titles. He served as the Olympic flag bearer for the Soviet Union in 1972, for Belarus in 2004 and recited the Judge's Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.
Frode Estil is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. He lives in Meråker with his wife Grete whom he married in the summer of 2001. They have two sons, Bernhard, born in August 2002, and Konrad. Estil was classical specialist and also a specialist at succeeding in World Championships and Olympics. While Estil only won four World Cup races, he won one individual Olympic Gold and one individual World Championship gold. In addition, he won three team events in the World Championships and another team gold in the Olympics.
Ivica Kostelić is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Croatia. He specialized in slalom and combined, but was also one of the few alpine World Cup ski racers able to score points in all disciplines. He is the brother of skiing champion Janica Kostelić. In his career he was coached by his father Ante Kostelić, as well as by Kristian Ghedina and Tomislav Krstičević.
Giorgio Rocca is an Italian former alpine skier, a specialist in slalom skiing. Together with Marc Girardelli, Ingemar Stenmark and Marcel Hirscher, he is one of four skiers to have won 5 Alpine Skiing World Cup slaloms in a row, which he achieved in the 2005/2006 season: only Alberto Tomba (7) has won more World Cup slaloms consecutively. He is currently ninth in the list of all-time slalom winners, with a total of 11 victories.
Benjamin Raich is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. With 14 medals won at Winter Olympics and World Championships, 36 World Cup race victories, one first place and five second places in the World Cup overall ranking, three victories of the slalom World Cup, three victories of the combined World Cup, two victories of the giant slalom World Cup and the highest score of career World Cup points, he is considered among the best alpine racers in World Cup history.
Switzerland competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. This was the confederation's largest Winter Olympics team ever, because two ice hockey teams qualified.
The 41st World Cup season was scheduled to begin on 28 October 2006, but cancellation of the opening races in Sölden delayed the season's start by two weeks. A very poor snowpack in the Alps, along with stormy weather in January, caused numerous races to be moved and rescheduled throughout the winter. The schedule included a mid-season break during the first 3 weeks of February for the World Championships in Åre, Sweden. The season concluded on 18 March 2007, at the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Igor Protti is an Italian former professional footballer who currently works as a general manager for Livorno.
Igor Gayniachmetovich Badamshin was a Soviet/Russian cross-country skier who competed from 1989 to 1997. He won a bronze medal in the 4 × 10 km relay at the 1993 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun and earned his best individual finishes of 5th twice at the world championships.
Shawn Medved is a retired American soccer forward and midfielder. Currently, he coaches youth soccer.
Antonio Pietro Paolo Virdis is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a forward. Throughout his career, he played for Nuorese, before playing in Serie A with Cagliari Calcio, Juventus, Udinese Calcio, and A.C. Milan; he ended his career with Lecce. Known for his eye for goal, with Juventus, he won two league titles and a Coppa Italia; with Milan, he was the league's top scorer in 1987, also winning a league title and the Supercoppa Italiana in 1988, and was part of the club's European Cup victory in 1989. At international level, he represented Italy at the 1988 Summer Olympics, helping the team to a fourth-place finish.
Igor Albert Rinck de Diver Camargo, known as Igor de Camargo, is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for RWDM as a striker.
Aleksei Gennadyevich Grishin is a Belarusian freestyle skier who competed at five consecutive Olympics from 1998 to 2014. He won Belarus' only medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, a bronze in aerials. In 2010, he won the first ever Winter Olympics gold medal for his country, again in the aerials. He finished fourth in 2006 and eighth in 1998. He was the Olympic flag bearer for Belarus at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Games.
Jure Radelj is a Slovenian former ski jumper who competed from 1993 to 2006. At World Cup level he scored three top-10 individual finishes, with the highest being sixth in Kuopio on 2 December 2000. He also scored six top-10 finishes in team competitions, with the highest being fourth in Park City on 19 January 2001.
Medved means bear in several Slavic languages, including Slovene, Slovak, Ukrainian, Russian, Czech, and Serbian. It is a gender-neutral surname in most languages, except Slovak and Czech. The Slovak feminine form is Medveďová.
Slovenia