Marianna Longa

Medal record
Longa in 2010.
Women’s cross country skiing
World Championships
Silver	2009 Liberec	10 km
Bronze	2009 Liberec	Team sprint

Marianna Longa (born August 26, 1979 in Tirano) is an Italian cross country skier from Livigno. She started the professional career in 1997, and the first appearance in a world cup race was March 17, 2000 in Bormio. Longa is currently part of the Fiamme Gialle, and the Italian cross country national team. Marianna is also a strong runner.

Early ages

In the early ages she excelled in all the major national, and international races. She approached the professional level at the age of 18, in 1997. In her first year, she obtained 9th place in the 5km F, at the 1997 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Canmore, Canada.

In 1999, she achieved a podium position at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Saalfelden, Austria with a 3rd place in the 5 km C, a race where athletes like Marit Bjoergen, Petra Majdic, and Kaisa Saarinen were also competing. Longa also earned great results in the Continental Cup, including the win at the 5km C stage in Candanchu, Spain where she preceded Petra Majdic.

World Cup debut

Between 2000 and 2001 she was competing in both the Continental Cup, and the World Cup. The top result was a 2nd position in the 5 km C in Schonach, Germany in the Continental Cup. She ended the 2001 season in 85th position in the overall world cup standing.

Winter Olympics and World Ski Championships Debuts

In the 2002 Winter Olympics, in Salt Lake City, at the age of 22, she obtained 6th position in the 4x5 km Relay, and a 20th position in the 10 km C. She ended the 2002 season in 80th position in the world cup overall standing.

In the 2003 World Ski Championships, in Val di Fiemme, she finished 7th in the 4x5 km Relay and 11th in the 15 km C Mass start. Longa ended the 2003 season in 51st position in the world cup overall standing achieving a 7th place in the 10 km C Mass start as top result.

Pregnancy and return to competitions 2004 - 2008

Between the 2004 and 2006 she did not obtain major results as a consequence of her pregnancy, announced in February 2005.

In the 2007 World Ski Championship, in Sapporo, Japan, she obtained 8th position in the 15 km M Pursuit, and 6th in the 4x5 Relay M. The best individual result in 2007 is 5th place in the 10 km C in Otepaeae, Estonia. She ended the season with an overall 19th position in the world cup standing. In March 2007, she retired, at the end of her best world cup season so far. Although the decision to retire, taken one year earlier, Longa gave her come back already in March 2008.

Marianna had a brilliant start on returning to competition, with a 5th place on the 10 km C World Cup in Lathi, Finland. The 2008 also brought a 4th place on the 10 km C, and a 5th place on the 10 km F Pursuit in the World Cup Grand Finals in Bormio.

In the summer of 2008 she also competed in Roller Skiing races to speed-up her recovery, obtaining a victory, two seconds and a fourth place.

From 2009

On January 30, 2009 she won her first world cup race in Rybinsk, Russia on the 10 km F Mass start. A month after, she won two medals at the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Liberec with a silver in the 10 km C and bronze in the team sprint C event. She finished the 2009 season in 6th position in the overall World Cup Standing.

In the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she earned 4th place in the relay 4x5 km M, 7th place in the 15 km pursuit, and 11th in the 30 km C Mass start. She ended the 2010 world cup season in 9th position in the overall standing with the major world cup results of a 3rd in Lahti in the 4x5 km Relay, and a 4th place in the 10 km C in Kuusamo, Finland.

On January 2011 she obtained 3rd place in the 2010-11 Tour de Ski, arriving third on the final climb finish in Val di Fiemme, following Justyna Kowalczyk and the Norwegian Therese Johaug. The 2011 season brought several good results in all the different disciplines, with a total of 6 podium positions in the Ski World Cup Races, and 3 podium positions in stage world cup races. Marianna Longa is currently in 4th position in the overall World Cup standing.

2011 World Championships, Oslo

Marianna Longa did not compete at the starting race in the world championship, the sprint won by Marit Bjoergen. She took start at the 15 km M Pursuit and finished 5th, following Marit Bjoergen, Justyna Kowalczyk, Therese Johaug and Kalla. At the 10 km C she finished 7th. Longa also participated at the Team Sprint C, completing the Italian team together with Arianna Follis. They secured the 4th position, following in order Sweden, Finland and Norway. In the relay 4x5 km M, together with Arianna Follis, Antonella Confortola and Silvia Rupil, Longa secured the 4th position, with a brilliant start that saw her in the first place after her fraction. On the last race, the 30km Mass start, she obtained the 8th position in a spectacular day where Therese Johaug offered an outstanding performance securing the Gold medal ahead of Marit Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk.

Notes

Marianna Longa in the 2011 Season participated at 37 races (World Championships, World Cup and FIS) to date, with an impressive statistics record:

-29 results within the 10th position

-10 podiums (1 in a FIS race)

-22 results finishing in the top 6

-only 8 times she finished outside the tenth position (4 of them in Sprint races)

Career Highlights:

-2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec: Silver 10 km C and Bronze medal in team sprint

-2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver: 4th place in relay and 7th place in 15 km pursuit

-1 World Cup victory, 5 podiums in World Cup

-3rd place at the Tour de Ski 2010- 11

-1999 FIS Junior World Ski Championships: Bronze medal in 5 km C

Word Championships records Starts: 17 Podiums: 2

Olympic records Starts: 7 Podiums: 0

World Cup records Starts: 97 Podiums: 6 Wins: 1

References

• FIS Newsflash 177 article on Longa's return from retirement. April 30, 2008.
• Marianna Longa at the International Ski Federation
• Fis-Ski (English) & (Italian)
• Unofficial Fan website (Italian)

Persondata
Name	Longa, Marianna
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Date of birth	August 26, 1979
Place of birth
Date of death
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