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

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

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 ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

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 (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, 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 )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

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 ...

, 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, comi ...

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 , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, 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 (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a hig ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. 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 (; it, Funes ; Ladin: ''Funès'') 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 dem ...

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

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. 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 Universiade medalists in snowboarding FISU World University Games silver medalists for Italy Competitors at the 2013 Winter Universiade 21st-century Italian people