Gustav Thöni

Gustav Thöni (sometimes listed as "Gustavo Thoeni") (born February 28, 1951) is a former champion alpine ski racer from northern Italy.

Career

Gustav Thöni was born in the mainly German-speaking province of Bolzano-Bozen, in the community of Trafoi (Stilfs-Stelvio, Vinschgau-Val Venosta) which is situated on the northern ramp of the Stelvio Pass. He currently operates a hotel there.

Ranked among the greatest Italian skiers ever, Thöni won three Olympic medals and a total of four overall World Cup titles in five years in the early 1970s. The four titles are an achievement he shares with Pirmin Zurbriggen and Hermann Maier, exceeded only by Marc Girardelli's five.

Thöni was the dominant skier in the technical events (slalom and giant slalom) in the early 1970s. He was first seen on the world stage when he placed well in the [1971 World Cup at Sugarloaf, Maine in the northeastern U.S.. His first victory on the World Cup circuit was in a slalom at Val d'Isere, France in December 1969. Still a teenager, he had a very successful rookie year during that 1970 season with four victories and nine podiums. He finished third in the overall standings, just eight points behind winner Karl Schranz of Austria. Thöni would win the overall title the next three seasons of 1971–73, and again in 1975. He was succeeded as the dominant technical skier by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, then by Alberto Tomba.

The year that Thöni did not win (1974), he was a close second to his fellow countryman and friend Piero Gros. The near-miss of five consecutive overall titles is a record that would most likely never have been broken.

Although he concentrated on the technical events, he did occasionally compete in the only speed event of the era, the downhill (Super-G was not run on the circuit until December [1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1982). His best finish in a downhill was a second place on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel in January 1975. After more than two minutes on the classic "Streif" course, he lost to the up-and-coming Austrian legend Franz Klammer by just one-hundredth of a second, a distance of about 25 cm (10 inches) at 130 km/h (80 mph). This event inspited a low-success movie featuring Thöni himself, directed by Duccio Tessari in 1981.

Thöni also won a number of combined events (downhill & slalom) during his career, including the non-medal titles in the combined at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics (but counted as World Championship titles).

Thöni's final victory in a slalom came in March 1975 at Sun Valley. He won a parallel slalom ("pro-style" heats) the following week in Val Gardena, Italy. His last win in giant slalom was in January 1976, and his final World Cup victory was in the combined at Kitzbühel in January 1977. His last podium finish was a third place in the slalom at Åre, Sweden, in February 1979.

He finished eighth in the slalom at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. As the torch had been passed on to the two top finishers, Stenmark and American Phil Mahre, Thöni retired from World Cup competition a month later in March 1980 at the age of 29.

His cousin Roland Thöni was also an alpine ski racer in the 1970s.

World cup victories

*World Cup races (more than 300):
**64 podiums
***24 victories
***22 second places
***18 third places

*1970 World Cup - overall 3rd place, giant slalom champion
*1971 World Cup - overall champion - giant slalom champion
*1972 World Cup - overall champion, giant slalom champion
*1973 World Cup - overall champion, slalom champion
*1974 World Cup - overall 2nd place, slalom champion
*1975 World Cup - overall champion
*1976 World Cup - overall - 3rd place

External links

*
* [http://www.ski-db.com/db/profiles/Thngu.asp Ski-db.com] - Gustav Thoeni