Piero Gros

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Piero Gros
Piero Gros 2014.jpg
Gros in 2014 at the age of 60.
Personal information
Born30 October 1954 (1954-10-30) (age 70)
Sauze d'Oulx, Italy
Occupation Alpine skier
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesTechnical events
ClubSci Club Sauze D'Oulx,
G.S. Fiamme Gialle
World Cup debut1973
Retired1982
Olympics
Teams2
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams5
Medals3 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons10
Wins12
Podiums35
Overall titles1
Discipline titles2
Medal record
International alpine ski competitions
Event1st2nd3rd
Olympic Games 100
World Championships 111
Total211
World Cup race podiums
Event1st2nd3rd
Slalom764
Giant574
Combined011
Total12149
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1976 Innsbruck Slalom
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1978 Garmisch Slalom
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1974 St. Moritz Giant slalom

Piero "Pierino" Gros (born 30 October 1954) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from northwestern Italy. He won the gold medal in slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, and was the World Cup overall champion in 1974. [1]

Contents

Biography

Gros was born at Sauze d'Oulx, in the province of Turin in the Piedmont region. He learned to ski at an early age, thanks to Aldo Monaci and Aldo Zulian. At the age of 8, he was for the first time on the podium of a local race. Gros made his debut in the World Cup at age 18 in December 1972. In that 1973 season, he won two races in Val d'Isère and Madonna di Campiglio; he was the youngest Italian skier ever to win a World Cup race. Two years later he won the overall title, sharing this result in Italy only with his friend and rival Gustav Thöni and with Alberto Tomba. Thöni had won the overall title the three preceding seasons and would reclaim it in 1975; he was the runner-up in 1974, and if not for Gros, would've won an unthinkable five consecutive overall titles. Gros also won the bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 1974 World Championships in St. Moritz.

His most notable and best result was the gold medal in the slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics: he preceded the silver medalist Thöni, in the most successful race ever for Italy at the Winter Olympics. According to Gros, that race was also significant in which he defeated the then almost unbeatable Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, to which Gros had been second six times in that 1976 World Cup season. Gros won another world championship medal in 1978, taking silver in slalom. Stenmark's dominance was the major factor in Gros' limited success in the late 1970s.

During his career, Piero Gros won a total of 12 World Cup races; 7 in giant slalom and 5 in slalom. He had 35 World Cup podiums (top 3) and 98 top ten finishes. [2] Gros retired from international competition following the 1982 season, at the age of 27. [1]

In 1985–1990 he was mayor of his native village of Sauze d'Oulx. In the meantime he worked as sport commentator for various television stations, including RAI, the Italian State Network. He held various executive positions at the 1997 World Championships in Sestriere and was involved with the 2006 Winter Olympics as head of the volunteers and deputy mayor of the Olympic Village in Sestriere. He carried the Olympic torch at the Opening Ceremony. [1]

His son Giorgio (b. 1981) is also a former alpine ski racer; he raced on the European Cup circuit until 2006 and competed in over twenty World Cup speed events. [3]

World Cup results

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
slalom
Super GDownhillCombined
1973 181064not
run
not
awarded
1974 19141
1975 20422
1976 212236
1977 22445not
awarded
1978 23849
1979 24476
1980 2529182411
1981 26288
1982 275015

Season titles

SeasonDiscipline
1974 Overall
Giant slalom

Individual races

SeasonDateLocationDiscipline
1973 8 December 1972 Flag of France.svg Val d'Isère, France Giant slalom
17 December 1972 Flag of Italy.svg Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Slalom
1974 17 December 1973 Flag of Italy.svg Sterzing, ItalySlalom
7 January 1974 Flag of Germany.svg Berchtesgaden, West Germany Giant slalom
13 January 1974 Flag of France.svg Morzine, FranceGiant slalom
3 March 1974 Flag of Norway.svg Voss, Norway Slalom
9 March 1974 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia Giant slalom
1975 5 December 1974 Flag of France.svg Val d'Isère, FranceGiant slalom
18 December 1974 Flag of Italy.svg Madonna di Campiglio, ItalyGiant slalom
6 January 1975 Flag of Germany.svg Garmisch, West GermanySlalom
13 January 1975 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom
19 January 1975 Flag of Austria.svg Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Piero Gros". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. Piero Gros. ski-db.com
  3. FIS-ski.com – Giorgio Gros – accessed 20 March 2012

Sauze d'Oulx