Manuela Di Centa

Last updated
Manuela Di Centa
OLY [1]
Manuela Di Centa daticamera.jpg
Manuela Di Centa in 2008
CountryFlag of Italy.svg  Italy
Born (1963-01-31) 31 January 1963 (age 62)
Paluzza, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
Height164 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Ski club G.S. Forestale
World Cup career
Seasons14 – (1982, 1984, 19871998)
Indiv. starts106
Indiv. podiums35
Indiv. wins15
Team starts15
Team podiums9
Team wins1
Overall titles2 – (1994, 1996)
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Women's cross-country skiing
Representing Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1994 Lillehammer 15 km freestyle
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1994 Lillehammer 30 km classical
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1994 Lillehammer 5 km classical
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1994 Lillehammer 5 km + 10 km
combined pursuit
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1992 Albertville 4 × 5 km relay
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1994 Lillehammer 4 × 5 km relay
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Nagano 4 × 5 km relay
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1991 Val di Fiemme 4 × 5 km relay
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1993 Falun 30 km freestyle
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1993 Falun 4 × 5 km relay
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1995 Thunder Bay 30 km freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1991 Val di Fiemme 5 km classical
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1991 Val di Fiemme 30 km freestyle
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1995 Thunder Bay 5 km classical
Junior World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg1982 Murau5 km

Manuela Di Centa (born 31 January 1963) is an Italian former cross-country skier and Olympic athlete. She is the sister of former cross-country skier Giorgio Di Centa and cousin of former track and field athlete Venanzio Ortis.

Contents

Career

Di Centa, born in Paluzza, province of Udine, to a family of Nordic skiers, made her debut on the Italian national team in 1980 at the age of 17, skied with the G.S. Forestale. Two years later, she competed at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo finishing in eighth place. After a quarrel with the president of the Italian Skiing Federation, Di Centa left the national team, not returning until 1986.

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, she finished sixth in the 20 km freestyle. She won her first medals in international competition at the 1991 World Championships in Val di Fiemme: a silver (4 × 5 km relay) and two bronzes (5 km, 30 km). An Olympic medal followed in 1992, a bronze in the 4 × 5 km relay. In 1993, at the Falun World Championships, she won two more silvers (30 km, 4 × 5 km relay). At the 1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, she won another silver (30 km) and a bronze (5 km).

Di Centa also became Italian national champion in fell running in 1985, 1989 and 1991. [2]

Di Centa seemed confined to the role of the eternal second, but this changed abruptly at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, where she medaled in all five cross-country events: two gold, two silver and one bronze medal. The same year she also won her first aggregate Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, a feat she repeated in 1996.

In 1996 she was the first Italian cross-country skier to receive the Holmenkollen Medal. Her last title was a bronze at the 1998 Winter Olympics in the 4 × 5 km relay.

After retiring, Di Centa worked for Italian television (RAI), and became a member of the Italian and International Olympic Committees.

Di Centa became the first Italian woman to climb Mount Everest (with supplementary oxygen) in 2003. [1]

Di Centa is the first Italian woman (and the 19th Italian) to compete at five Olympics, which she did from 1984 to 1998.

Her younger brother Giorgio is currently a member of the Italian national cross-country ski team and was the winner of two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

At the 2018 Winter Olympics di Centa was inducted into the Olympians for Life project. [1]

Her niece, Martina, competed for Italy at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Cross-country skiing.

Di Centa is a vegan. [3]

2006 Winter Olympics

As a member of the International Olympic Committee and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and as one of Italy's most accomplished Winter Olympic athletes, Di Centa played a prominent public role in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She was one of the eight flag bearers during the Opening Ceremonies. At the Closing Ceremonies, she participated in the awarding of medals to the winners of the men's 50 km cross-country race. Coincidentally, the gold medal winner was her younger brother Giorgio.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS). [4]

Olympic Games

 Year  Age  5 km  10 km  15 km  Pursuit  20 km  30 km  4 × 5 km 
 relay 
1984 21 24 28 26 9
1988 25 18 20 6
1992 29 12 10 6 Bronze
1994 31 Silver Gold Silver Gold Bronze
1998 35 21 23 Bronze

World Championships

 Year  Age  5 km 10 km 
 classical 
 10 km 
 freestyle 
 15 km  Pursuit  20 km  30 km  4 × 5 km 
 relay 
1982 18817
1989 258756
1991 27Bronze4BronzeSilver
1993 291054SilverSilver
1995 31Bronze4Silver4
1997 333412DNF4

World Cup

Season standings

 Season  Age OverallLong DistanceSprint
1982 1822
1984 2049
1987 2349
1988 2427
1989 254
1990 265
1991 275
1992 289
1993 295
1994 30Gold medal icon.svg
1995 3120
1996 32Gold medal icon.svg
1997 334127
1998 34202021

Individual podiums

  • 15 victories
  • 35 podiums
No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1  1988–89  13 January 1989 Flag of East Germany.svg Klingenthal, East Germany10 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
211 March 1989 Flag of Sweden.svg Falun, Sweden15 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
3 1989–90 18 February 1990 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Pontresina, Switzerland15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
47 March 1990 Flag of Sweden.svg Sollefteå, Sweden30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
510 March 1990 Flag of Sweden.svg Örnsköldsvik, Sweden10 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
6  1990–91  12 February 1991 Flag of Italy.svg Val di Fiemme, Italy5 km Individual CWorld Championships [1] 3rd
716 February 199130 km Individual FWorld Championships [1] 3rd
810 March 1991 Flag of Sweden.svg Örnsköldsvik, Sweden15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
916 March 1991 Flag of Norway.svg Oslo, Norway5 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
10  1992–93  27 February 1993 Flag of Sweden.svg Falun, Sweden30 km Individual FWorld Championships [1] 2nd
116 March 1993 Flag of Finland.svg Lahti, Finland5 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
129 March 1993 Flag of Norway.svg Lillehammer, Norway5 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
1310 March 199310 km Pursuit FWorld Cup2nd
1410 March 1993 Flag of Slovakia.svg Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia10 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
15  1993–94  18 December 1993 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Davos, Switzerland10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
1621 December 1993 Flag of Italy.svg Toblach, Italy15 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
1715 January 1994 Flag of Norway.svg Oslo, Norway15 km Individual FWorld Cup2nd
1813 February 1994 Flag of Norway.svg Lillehammer, Norway15 km Individual FOlympic Games [1] 1st
1915 February 19945 km Individual COlympic Games [1] 2nd
2017 February 199410 km Pursuit FOlympic Games [1] 2nd
2124 February 199430 km Individual CFOlympic Games [1] 1st
226 March 1994 Flag of Finland.svg Lahti, Finland30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
2312 March 1994 Flag of Sweden.svg Falun, Sweden10 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
2420 March 1994 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Thunder Bay, Canada10 km Pursuit FWorld Cup1st
25  1994–95  12 March 1995 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Thunder Bay, Canada5 km Individual CWorld Championships [1] 3rd
2618 March 199530 km Individual FWorld Championships [1] 2nd
27  1995–96  9 December 1995 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Davos, Switzerland5 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
289 January 1996 Flag of Slovakia.svg Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia30 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
2918 March 1995 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Nové Město, Czech Republic10 km Individual CWorld Cup2nd
302 February 1996 Flag of Austria.svg Seefeld, Austria5 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
3111 February 1996 Flag of Russia.svg Kavgolovo, Russia10 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
3224 February 1996 Flag of Norway.svg Trondheim, Norway5 km Individual CWorld Cup1st
3325 February 199610 km Pursuit FWorld Cup1st
342 March 1996 Flag of Finland.svg Lahti, Finland10 km Individual FWorld Cup1st
359 March 1996 Flag of Sweden.svg Falun, Sweden15 km Individual FWorld Cup1st

Team podiums

  • 1 victory – (1 TS)
  • 9 podiums – (8 RL, 1 TS)
No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammate(s)
1  1990–91  15 February 1991 Flag of Italy.svg Val di Fiemme, Italy4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Championships [1] 2nd Vanzetta / Paruzzi / Belmondo
2  1991–92  18 February 1992 Flag of France.svg Albertville, France4 × 5 km Relay C/FOlympic Games [1] 3rd Vanzetta / Paruzzi / Belmondo
3  1992–93  26 February 1993 Flag of Sweden.svg Falun, Sweden4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Championships [1] 2nd Vanzetta / Paruzzi / Belmondo
4  1993–94  22 February 1994 Flag of Norway.svg Lillehammer, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FOlympic Games [1] 3rd Vanzetta / Paruzzi / Belmondo
5  1995–96  17 December 1995 Flag of Italy.svg Santa Caterina, Italy4 × 5 km Relay CWorld Cup2nd Paluselli / Belmondo / Paruzzi
614 January 1996 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 5 km Relay CWorld Cup3rd Paluselli / Belmondo / Paruzzi
73 February 1996 Flag of Austria.svg Seefeld, Austria6 × 1.5 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup1st Belmondo
810 March 1996 Flag of Sweden.svg Falun, Sweden4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rd Giacomuzzi / Dal Sasso / Belmondo
9  1997–98  14 December 1997 Flag of Italy.svg Val di Fiemme, Italy4 × 5 km Relay FWorld Cup2nd Paruzzi / Valbusa / Belmondo

Note:1 Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

National titles

Politics

Manuela Di Centa, who has been vice-president of the National Council of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) until 2006, is also involved in politics and was a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Forza Italia, between 2006 and 2013. She became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1999 and remained there until 2010. [5]

Doping allegations

The Swedish investigative television program Uppdrag granskning claimed that Di Centa had an exceptionally high hemoglobin level prior to a World Cup in Lahti in 1997. Di Centa's hemoglobin value was measured in an official pre-competition test as high as 17.3 g/dL. The allowed limit to start in official FIS competition is 16.5 g/dL.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "WOA honours Olympians for Life inductees".
  2. "Italian Championships". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  3. "Manuela Di Centa: Sport e dieta vegan, connubio azzeccato". terranuova.it. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  4. "DI CENTA Manuela". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  5. "Ms Manuela DI CENTA". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 December 2017.