Kristian Ghedina

Kristian Ghedina
Ghedina in 2020.
Personal information
Born (1969-11-20) 20 November 1969 (age 54)
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
OccupationAlpine skier
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill
ClubG.S. Fiamme Gialle
World Championships
Medals3 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons17
Wins13
Podiums33
Overall titles0 (4th 1997, 2000)
Discipline titles0 (2nd DH 1995, 1997, 2000)
Medal record
International alpine ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 0
World Championships 0 2 1
Total 0 2 1
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Downhill 12 9 8
Super-G 1 2 1
Total 13 11 9
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1996 Sierra Nevada Downhill
Silver medal – second place 1991 Saalbach Combined
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Sestriere Downhill

Kristian Ghedina (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjaŋ ɡeˈdiːna]; born 20 November 1969) is an Italian alpine skiing coach and former competitive racer. His 13 victories are the second most by an Italian downhill specialist in World Cup history: the first is Dominik Paris with 21 victories. He is currently an auto racer.

Biography

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.

He probably gave his most remarkable performance 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

Podium

  • 13 wins (12 DH, 1 SG)
  • 33 podiums (29 DH, 4 SG)
Date Place Discipline Rank
16/12/1989 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 3rd
11/01/1990 Austria Schladming Downhill 2nd
03/02/1990 Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo Downhill 1st
15/03/1990 Sweden Åre Downhill 1st
13/01/1995 Austria Kitzbühel Downhill 3rd
20/01/1995 Switzerland Wengen Downhill 1st
25/02/1995 Canada Whistler, BC Downhill 1st
10/03/1995 Norway Kvitfjell Super G 2nd
11/03/1995 Norway Kvitfjell Downhill 2nd
06/03/1996 Norway Kvitfjell Downhill 3rd
20/12/1996 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 3rd
21/12/1996 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 1st
29/12/1996 Italy Bormio Downhill 3rd
11/01/1997 France Chamonix Downhill 1st
18/01/1997 Switzerland Wengen Downhill 1st
22/02/1997 Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Downhill 3rd
23/02/1997 Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Super G 2nd
12/03/1997 United States Vail, CO Downhill 2nd
13/03/1997 United States Vail, CO Super G 3rd
04/12/1997 United States Beaver Creek, CO Downhill 1st
24/01/1998 Austria Kitzbühel Downhill 1st
19/12/1998 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 1st
27/11/1999 United States Vail, CO Downhill 3rd
17/12/1999 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 1st
18/12/1999 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 2nd
22/01/2000 Austria Kitzbühel Downhill 2nd
29/01/2000 Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Downhill 2nd
04/03/2000 Norway Kvitfjell Downhill 2nd
05/03/2000 Norway Kvitfjell Super G 1st
16/12/2000 France Val d'Isere Downhill 2nd
14/12/2001 Italy Val Gardena Downhill 1st
02/03/2002 Norway Kvitfjell Downhill 3rd
08/01/2005 France Chamonix Downhill 2nd

Overall

Year/Rank Overall Downhill Giant Super-G Combined
Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points
1990 15th 97 6th 98 - - - - 7th 10
1991 22nd 63 11th 40 32nd 3 19th 10 6th 10
1992 43rd 206 15th 147 - - 39th 33 29th 26
1993 57th 139 27th 110 - - - - 20th 29
1994 40th 207 19th 146 - - 39th 9 7th 52
1995 7th 628 2nd 473 32nd 29 7th 126 - -
1996 15th 492 8th 237 46th 9 10th 170 5th 76
1997 4th 990 2nd 700 - - 5th 218 6th 72
1998 11th 544 6th 412 - - 10th 114 - -
1999 20th 355 8th 296 - - 36th 14 9th 45
2000 4th 958 2nd 677 - - 8th 216 8th 65
2001 60th 95 21st 95 - - - - - -
2002 10th 505 3rd 381 - - 15th 88 12th 36
2003 98th 38 36th 35 - - 57th 3 - -
2004 49th 169 20th 169 - - - - - -
2005 32nd 257 12th 225 - - 34th 32 - -
2006 35th 235 10th 235 - - - - - -

See also

References

  1. ^ Ski-db.com – Kristian Ghedina – accessed 9 March 2010
  2. ^ shown on YouTube-Videos - one in German followed by an interview, the other one in French
  3. ^ "Ivica Kostelic and Kristian Ghedina team up at Colmar". International Ski Federation. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

External links