Deborah Compagnoni (; born 4 June 1970) is an Italian former

Alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

who won three gold medals at the 1992,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, and

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

Biography

Katja Seizinger, Deborah Compagnoni and Sonja Nef - 1997 Cortina d'Ampezzo

Deborah Compagnoni was born in

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina ...

, northern Lombardy, and skied with the G.S. Forestale club. Compagnoni soon attracted attention for her great talent. Her career was always marked by major successes, but also by serious accidents. After her first major victory, the World Junior title in Giant slalom, and her first podium in World Cup, she broke her right knee in the Val d'Isére

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

. After surgery, she decided to stop competing in downhill races, where her talent could have permitted even greater successes than those she obtained in her still outstanding career. Compagnoni won her first race in the World Cup in 1992. She also won the gold medal at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

of the same year, again in the

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

: However, while racing the Giant Slalom, one day later, she destroyed her left knee. In the following years, she left the speed disciplines (downhill and Super-G), confirming herself as one of the best Giant Slalom specialists. Her fragile knees hindered Compagnoni's practice activity, and limited the number of victories in the World Cup; however, she always arrived in her best shape for the major championships. In 1994, at the Lillehammer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the Giant Slalom, a feat she repeated four years later in

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

. In 1998, she won also a silver medal in the Slalom, finishing second by only 0.06 seconds. Compagnoni won the World Championship in Giant Slalom in 1996; in the following year's edition, she repeated the victory, alongside winning with the Slalom title, a feat never accomplished by any other Italian female skier. She won a total of 16 races in the

Alpine Skiing World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ( ...

(13 Giant Slalom, 2 Super-G, and 1 Slalom), plus a Giant Slalom World Cup in 1997. Deborah Compagnoni is considered the best Italian female skier of all time, the equal of famous male champions like

Gustav Thöni Gustav Thöni (; sometimes listed as Gustavo Thoeni; born 28 February 1951) is an Italian retired alpine ski racer. Career Thöni was born in the German-speaking province of South Tyrol, in the hamlet of Trafoi of the Stilfs municipality, whi ...

and

Alberto Tomba Alberto Tomba (born 19 December 1966 in San Lazzaro di Savena) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier (slalom and giant slalom) in the late 1980s and 1990s. At 182 cm and 90 kg, his powerful ...

. The World Cup skiing track in her native Santa Caterina Valfurva has been named after her. She is married to

Alessandro Benetton Alessandro Benetton (born 2 March 1964) is an Italian businessman. He served as Chairman of the Benetton Group from April 2012 to May 2014. Early life Alessandro Benetton is the son of Luciano Benetton and Maria Teresa Maestri. He attended univ ...

, and they have three children: Agnese, Tobias, and Luce; they live in

Ponzano Veneto Ponzano Veneto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about northwest of Treviso. Ponzano Veneto borders the following municipalities: Paese, Povegliano, Treviso ...

, Italy. Her brother Jacopo Compagnoni, a fellow Alpine skier, died during an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...

on Monte Sobretta on December 16, 2021, at the age of 40.

World Cup results

Season titles

Season standings

Races victories

These are her world cup victories.''Encyclopædia Britannica almanac 2008''
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Compagnoni, Deborah 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Sondrio Italian female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Benetton people Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic alpine skiers of Italy