Dario Cologna (born 11 March 1986) is a Swiss cross-country skier. He has four overall

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

victories, four Olympic gold medals, one

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

gold medal and four

Tour de Ski Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

victories in his career. On 3 November 2021, he announced his retirement from cross-country skiing following the 2021–2022 season.

Early life

Cologna is a native Rumantsch speaker. He was born in

Santa Maria Val Müstair Santa Maria Val Müstair ( rm, Soncha Maria) is a village in the Val Müstair municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Santa Maria Val Müstair merged with Lü, Müstair, Fuldera, Tschierv and Valchava to ...

, in the

Lower Engadine The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ''G ...

, to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

parents. His father Remo is from

Val di Non The Non Valley ( it, Val di Non or ; Nones: ''Val de Nòn''; german: Nonstal or ; la, Anaunia) is a valley mainly in the Trentino. Morever, the (), a subregion, consists of three primarily German-speaking municipalities in the province of South ...

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 ...

, while his mother Christine is from Stelvio/Stilfs in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

. He holds both Italian and Swiss citizenship. He is the older brother of Swiss skier Gianluca Cologna.

Career

Early career and the breakthrough 2008–09 season

In 2006, Dario Cologna won a bronze medal at the 10 km classic event in the Junior World Championships in

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...

, Slovenia. Cologna debuted in the

FIS Cross-Country World Cup The FIS Cross-Country World Cup is an annual cross-country skiing competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1981. The competition was arranged unofficially between 1973 and 1981, although it received provisional recogn ...

Kuusamo Kuusamo ( sme, Guossán; smn, Kuáccám) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...

in November 2006 and took his first points in

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabita ...

in March 2007. During the 2007–08 season, Cologna finished in the top ten four times and placed 37th overall. In December 2008, Cologna took his first World Cup podium finish with second place in the 30-kilometre competition in

La Clusaz La Clusaz (; frp, La Klyuza, ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Overview It is a ski resort in the Alps near the Swiss border. The commune of La Clusaz is part of the Haute ...

. On 27 December, he won his first World Cup race as he finished first on the 15 km classic pursuit on stage two of the 2008–09 Tour de Ski. He went on to win the Tour in January 2009, finishing the final event almost a minute ahead of runner-up

Petter Northug Petter Northug Jr. (born 6 January 1986) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier and double Olympic champion. He won a total of 13 World Championship and two Winter Olympic gold medals with 20 medals overall (two gold, one silver and one bronze ...

. Cologna also won the overall 2008–09 World Cup with more than 100 points in front of the second place after placing two times first and other three times on the podium.

2010 and 2014 Olympics

He finished the

2009–10 FIS Cross-Country World Cup The 2009–10 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. It was the 29th official World Cup season in cross-country skiing for men and ladies. The season started 21 November 2009 in Beitostøl ...

fourth, winning a race and taking two other podiums. He also came in third in the

2009–10 Tour de Ski The 2009–10 Tour de Ski was the 4th edition of the Tour de Ski and took place 1–10 January 2010. The race started in Oberhof, Germany, and ended in Val di Fiemme, Italy. The defending champions was Switzerland's Dario Cologna for the me ...

. In the

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 ...

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 ...

, he won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the men's 15km freestyle event. Cologna is the first

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

to win a cross-country skiing gold medal at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. Cologna won the

2010–11 FIS Cross-Country World Cup The 2010–11 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. It was the 30th official World Cup season in cross-country skiing for men and women. The season began on 20 November 2010 in Gällivar ...

with more than 300 points ahead of

, who came second. This season he won four races and took six other podiums, winning the 2010–11 Tour de Ski with 27 seconds ahead of Northug. During the

2011–12 FIS Cross-Country World Cup 2011–12 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was a multi-race tournament over the season for cross-country skiers. It was the 31st official World Cup season in cross-country skiing for men and ladies. The season began in Sjusjøen, Norway, on 19 Novemb ...

season, Cologna won eight races and took twelve additional podium positions; his 20 podiums are, as of the 2018–19 season, still a record for most podiums in a season. On 8 January 2012, Cologna took his third Tour de Ski overall win in

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, winning the 2011–12 Tour de Ski. He finished more than a minute ahead of everyone else, with

Marcus Hellner Carl Marcus Joakim Hellner (born 25 November 1985) is a Swedish former cross-country skier who competed between 2003 and 2018. He retired at the end of the 2017-18 FIS World Cup season. Athletic career Hellner had a total of seven victories in ...

being second and Petter Northug third. With this performance, Cologna won his third

overall win, being the only male athlete ever to have done so. He also snatched the yellow jersey becoming world no. 1 in the

as of 8 January 2012. At the World Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme Cologna won the 30 km pursuit. He won the 30 km skiathlon at the

Sochi Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

. Later in the games he successfully defended his title from the

Olympics in the 15 km race, this time in classic technique.

2017–18 season: Fourth Tour de Ski and third consecutive Olympic 15 km

Cologna won his fourth Tour de Ski title by winning the 2017–18 edition. He won two of the six stages of the Tour, both in

Lenzerheide Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein. The vil ...

, and won the overall standings with a margin of one minute and 26.5 seconds to second-placed

Martin Johnsrud Sundby Martin Johnsrud Sundby (born 26 September 1984) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier who competed between 2003 and 2021. He is a two time Olympic champion at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the team sprint and relay and was also a silver and bro ...

. Alongside female skier

Justyna Kowalczyk Justyna Maria Kowalczyk-Tekieli (born 19 January 1983) is a Polish cross-country skier who has been competing since 2000. Kowalczyk is a double Olympic Champion and a double World Champion. She is also the only skier to win the Tour de Ski four ...

, Cologna is the only athlete to win the Tour de Ski four times. At the PyeongChang Olympics, Cologna won the 15 kilometre freestyle. He became the first cross-country skier to win three consecutive 15 km Olympic events. On 10 March 2018, he became the first Swiss to win the prestigious

Holmenkollen 50 km The Holmenkollen 50 km is an annual cross-country skiing race held at Holmenkollen National Arena in Oslo, Norway. The competition is part of the Holmenkollen Ski Festival. The 50 km distance is raced by men only as the women's equivalent is a ...

. He was awarded the Holmenkollen Medal in 2021.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 4 medals – (4 gold) Distance reduced to 30 km due to weather conditions.

World Championships

* 3 medals – (1 gold, 2 silver)

World Cup

Season titles

* 8 titles – (4 overall, 4 distance)

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 26 victories – (15 , 11 ) * 73 podiums – (40 , 33 )

Team podiums

* 1 victory – (1 ) * 2 podiums – (2 )

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cologna, Dario 1986 births Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic cross-country skiers of Switzerland Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Swiss male cross-country skiers Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Tour de Ski winners Tour de Ski skiers Swiss people of Italian descent People from Inn District, Switzerland Sportspeople from Graubünden