Manuela Di Centa (born 31 January 1963) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete Venanzio Ortis.

Career

Di Centa, born in Paluzza,

province of Udine The province of Udine (; ; ; ; ) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia, with the capital in the city of Udine. Abolished on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the Re ...

, 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 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...

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 The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, 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 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia">Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia. Fiemme Valley (, ) is a valley in the Trentino Provinces of Italy, province, i.e. the southern ...

: a silver (4 × 5 km relay) and two bronzes (5 km, 30 km). An Olympic medal followed in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, 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 Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

in 1985, 1989 and 1991. Di Centa seemed confined to the role of the eternal second, but this changed abruptly at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, 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 The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in the 4 × 5 km relay. After retiring, Di Centa worked for Italian television (

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

), and became a member of the Italian and

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

s. Di Centa became the first Italian woman to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

(with supplementary oxygen) in 2003. 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 The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

. At the 2018 Winter Olympics di Centa was inducted into the Olympians for Life project. Her niece, Martina, competed for Italy at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Cross-country skiing. Di Centa is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

2006 Winter Olympics

As a member of the International Olympic Committee and the

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee (, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in ItalyWithin Italy, CONI recognizes 48 national ...

(CONI) and as one of Italy's most accomplished Winter Olympic athletes, Di Centa played a prominent public role in the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. She was one of the eight flag bearers during the

Opening Ceremonies An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

. 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).

Olympic Games

* 7 medals – (2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)

World Championships

* 7 medals – (4 silver, 3 bronze)

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

*15 victories *35 podiums

Team podiums

* 1 victory – (1 ) * 9 podiums – (8 , 1 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

National titles

* Italian Mountain Running Championships **

Mountain running Mountain running is a sports discipline which takes place mainly off-road in mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. In this it differs from fell running; its courses are more ...

: 1985, 1989, 1991 (3)

Politics

Manuela Di Centa, who has been vice-president of the National Council of the

(CONI) until 2006, is also involved in politics and was a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

, between 2006 and 2013. She became a member of the

in 1999 and remained there until 2010.

Doping allegations

The Swedish investigative television program ''

Uppdrag granskning ''Uppdrag granskning'' (English name: ''Mission: Investigate'') is a Swedish television program focusing on investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of in ...

'' 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.

References

External links

*
Holmenkollen medalists
- click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Centa, Manuela 1963 births Living people People from Paluzza Skiers from the Province of Udine Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Italian International Olympic Committee members Italian female cross-country skiers Italian female mountain runners Olympic cross-country skiers for Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Italian summiters of Mount Everest Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics 20th-century Italian sportswomen