Aaron March (born 14 May 1986) is an Italian alpine snowboarder. He represented his nation

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2010 and 2014), and eventually claimed a silver medal in parallel giant slalom at the

2013 Winter Universiade The 2013 Winter Universiade, the XXVI Winter Universiade, was a winter multi-sport event which took place in Trentino, Italy between 11 and 21 December 2013. This was the first time that a Winter Universiade happened after the Summer Universiade ...

in the

Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...

and top ten finishes at the FIS World Cup series since his sporting debut in 2001.

Career

March nicknamed himself as ''The Painter'' because of his love and passion on art and creativity; thus he relates it to his respective sport, "When I ride, I ride with imagination. Life can be rational but in the snow I can create and enjoy a new world. I love the pop art of US artist

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, its genius and recklessness. He was an innovative artist who has broken the mould, as we have done with winter sports." Being a military soldier with the rank of a corporal, March also trains at Centro Sportivo Esercito under his personal coach and mentor Erich Pramsohler. March made his official debut as part of the Italian squad at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, where he finished fifteenth in the men's giant slalom, losing out to Austria's

Benjamin Karl Benjamin Martin Karl (born 16 October 1985) is an Austrian professional snowboarder with seven World Cup victories and one FIS World Ski Championships Victory. He competed for his nation in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Parallel Giant Slalom, com ...

in a first knockout round by 2.27 seconds. When his nation Italy hosted the

in the

, March win a silver medal for his team in the same tournament, but he was defeated by Austria's Sebastian Kislinger in their final match. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, March qualified for two alpine snowboarding events (including the first ever men's parallel slalom) by finishing third from the FIS World Cup series in

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein ( is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau District. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it is known for the Gastein waterfall and a variety of grand hotel buildings. Geography Bad Gastein i ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. As part of his preparations for the Olympics, March, together with his coach Erich Pramsohler and fellow snowboarders Roland Fischnaller and Austrian Siegfried Grabner, cycled a 3,100-kilometre stretch from

Villnöß Villnöß (; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northeast of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of November 30, 2010, it had a population of 2,552 and an area of .All demographics and other statist ...

, and passed through eight countries on their sixteen-day voyage to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In the men's giant slalom, March was disqualified from the tournament after missing a gate on his second seeding run. Three days later, in the men's slalom, March redeemed himself with a fourth-place finish in the small final race, but could not beat his former rival

for the bronze medal by a wide 16-second margin.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:March, Aaron 1986 births Living people Italian male snowboarders Olympic snowboarders for Italy Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Germanophone Italian people Sportspeople from Brixen Winter World University Games medalists in snowboarding FISU World University Games silver medalists for Italy Medalists at the 2013 Winter Universiade 21st-century Italian sportsmen