Other Winter Sports
Winter sports or invernali in Italian language, gave many good results to Italy. Among them, Italians excel in cross-country skiing (sci di fondo), but also in luge (slittino), with the two time Olympic gold medal winner Armin Zoeggeler.
- Alpinism (alpinismo) is followed, because Italian alpinists wrote several pages of history in this sport. Italians Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli conquered first the summit of K2 (8611 m) in 1954, in the expedition led by the geologist Ardito Desio. Reinhold Messner was the first man in the world to reach the 14 summits, over 8,000 meters, and the first one to climb Mount Everest alone and without oxygen. Cesare Maestri conquered the Cerro Torre in Patagonia in 1959. Walter Bonatti is considered one of the best alpinists in Europe in 1950s, realizing some ascents considered impossible by the competitors.
- Ice hockey is played by professional players in Serie A (hockey) with substantial attendance.
- Figure skating is a popular sport and professional figure skaters often starring in events of exhibition.
- Bobsleigh is very followed, because Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti was the most successful athlete in the international history of this sport.
- Luge is followed from its history, with Paul Hildgartner and Gerda Weissensteiner to the current dominance of Armin Zöggeler.
Read more about this topic: Sport In Italy
Famous quotes containing the words winter and/or sports:
“See, Winter comes, to rule the varied year,
Sullen, and sad, with all his rising train;
Vapours, and clouds, and storms. Be these my theme,
These, that exalt the soul to solemn thought,
And heavenly musing. Welcome, kindred glooms!
Congenial horrors, hail!”
—James Thomson (1700–1748)
“...I didn’t come to this with any particular cachet. I was just a person who grew up in the United States. And when I looked around at the people who were sportscasters, I thought they were just people who grew up in the United States, too. So I thought, Why can’t a woman do it? I just assumed everyone else would think it was a swell idea.”
—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 85 (June 17, 1991)