| Olympic medalist | ||
 Gustav Thöni in the 1970s |
||
| Medal record | ||
| Men’s Alpine Skiing | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1972 Sapporo | Giant Slalom |
| Silver | 1972 Sapporo | Slalom |
| Silver | 1976 Innsbruck | Slalom |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 1972 Sapporo | Combined |
| Gold | 1974 St. Moritz | Giant Slalom |
| Gold | 1974 St. Moritz | Slalom |
| Gold | 1976 Innsbruck | Combined |
Gustav Thöni (sometimes listed as Gustavo Thoeni) (born February 28, 1951) is a former champion alpine ski racer from northern Italy.
Contents |
Career
Gustav Thöni was born in the mainly German-speaking province of Bolzano-Bozen, in the community of Trafoi (Stilfs, Vinschgau) which is situated on the northern ramp of the Stelvio Pass. He currently operates a hotel there.
Ranked among the greatest Italian skiers ever, Thöni won three Olympic medals and a total of four overall World Cup titles in five years in the early 1970s. The four titles are an achievement he shares with Pirmin Zurbriggen and Hermann Maier, exceeded only by Marc Girardelli's five.
Thöni was the dominant skier in the technical events (slalom and giant slalom) in the early 1970s. He was first seen on the world stage when he placed well in the 1971 World Cup at Sugarloaf, Maine, in the northeastern U.S.. His first victory on the World Cup circuit was in a slalom at Val d'Isere, France in December 1969. Still a teenager, he had a very successful rookie year during that 1970 season with four victories and nine podiums. He finished third in the overall standings, just eight points behind winner Karl Schranz of Austria. Thöni would win the overall title the next three seasons of 1971–73, and again in 1975. He was succeeded as the dominant technical skier by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, then by Alberto Tomba.
The year that Thöni did not win (1974), he was a close second to his fellow countryman and friend Piero Gros. The near-miss of five consecutive overall titles is a record that would most likely never have been broken.
Although he concentrated on the technical events, he did occasionally compete in the only speed event of the era, the downhill (Super-G was not run on the circuit until December 1982). His best finish in a downhill was a second place on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel in January 1975. After more than two minutes on the classic Streif course, he lost to the up-and-coming Austrian legend Franz Klammer by just one-hundredth of a second, a distance of about 25 cm (10 inches) at 130 km/h (80 mph). This event inspired a low-success movie featuring Thöni himself, directed by Duccio Tessari in 1981.
Thöni also won a number of combined events (downhill & slalom) during his career, including the non-medal titles in the combined at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics (but counted as world championship titles).
Thöni's final victory in a slalom came in March 1975 at Sun Valley. He won a parallel slalom ("pro-style" heats) the following week in Val Gardena, Italy. His last win in giant slalom was in January 1976, and his final World Cup victory was in the combined at Kitzbühel in January 1977. His last podium finish was a third place in the slalom at Åre, Sweden, in February 1979.
He finished eighth in the slalom at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. As the torch had been passed on to the two top finishers, Stenmark and American Phil Mahre, Thöni retired from World Cup competition a month later in March 1980 at the age of 29.
His cousin Roland Thöni was also a World Cup alpine ski racer in the 1970s. Roland took bronze in the slalom at the 1972 Olympics, while Gustav took the silver.
World Cup victories
Season titles
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1970 | Giant Slalom |
| 1971 | Overall |
| 1971 | Giant Slalom |
| 1972 | Overall |
| 1972 | Giant Slalom |
| 1973 | Overall |
| 1973 | Slalom |
| 1974 | Slalom |
| 1975 | Overall |
Race victories
- World Cup races (over 300):
- 64 podiums
- 24 victories
- 22 second places
- 18 third places
- 64 podiums
| Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|
| December 11, 1969 |  Val d'Isère |
Giant Slalom |
| January 4, 1970 |  Bad Hindelang |
Slalom |
| January 29, 1970 |  Madonna di Campiglio |
Giant Slalom |
| January 30, 1970 | Madonna di Campiglio |
Giant Slalom |
| January 10, 1971 | Madonna di Campiglio |
Slalom |
| February 21, 1971 |  Sugarloaf, ME |
Giant Slalom |
| February 25, 1971 | Heavenly Valley, CA |
Slalom |
| February 27, 1971 | Heavenly Valley, CA |
Giant Slalom |
| March 2, 1972 | Heavenly Valley, CA |
Giant Slalom |
| January 15, 1973 |  Adelboden |
Giant Slalom |
| February 4, 1973 |  St. Anton |
Slalom |
| March 4, 1973 |  Mont St. Anne, QC |
Slalom |
| January 20, 1974 | Adelboden |
Giant Slalom |
| March 2, 1974 |  Voss |
Giant Slalom |
| March 10, 1974 |  Vysoke Tatry |
Slalom |
| January 12, 1975 | Wengen |
Combined |
| January 19, 1975 | Kitzbühel |
Combined |
| January 30, 1975 | Chamonix |
Slalom |
| February 1, 1975 | Megeve |
Combined |
| March 15, 1975 | Sun Valley, ID |
Slalom |
| March 23 1975 | Val Gardena |
Parallel |
| December 5, 1975 | Val d'Isère |
Giant Slalom |
| December 1, 1976 | Adelboden |
Giant Slalom |
| January 16, 1977 | Wengen |
Combined |
External links
- FIS-Ski: Gustavo Thoeni – statistics
- FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Gustav Thöni - 1970-80
- Ski-db.com - results - Gustav Thöni
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
