Giorgio Di Centa (born 7 October 1972 in

Tolmezzo Tolmezzo ( fur, Tumieç; sl, Tolmeč; archaic german: Tolmein or ''Schönfeld'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, part of the autonomous Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy. Geography Tolmezzo is located at the ...

Province of Udine The province of Udine ( it, provincia di Udine, fur, provincie di Udin, sl, videmska pokrajina, Resian dialect, Resian: , german: Provinz Weiden) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia of Italy, borderi ...

) is an Italian former cross-country skier who won two gold medals at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

, including the individual 50 km freestyle race. He is the younger brother of Olympic gold medalist, cross-country skier

Manuela Di Centa Manuela Di Centa, (born 31 January 1963) is a former Italian cross-country skier and Olympic athlete. She is the sister of former cross-country skier Giorgio Di Centa and cousin of former track and field athlete Venanzio Ortis. Career Di Centa, ...

Biography

Di Centa began cross-county skiing very early in a family in which his elder brother Andrea was also a professional skier. At the age of 16 he became a member of Italy's junior team while also skiing for the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

sport team. He became a member of Italy's senior team in 1995. He finished 8th in the 30 km event at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

. After a silver medal at the

2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2005 took place 16–27 February 2005 in Oberstdorf, Germany, for the second time after hosting it previously in 1987. The ski jumping team normal hill event returned after not being held in 2003. The dou ...

in the double pursuit and a silver medal at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

in the 4 x 10 km. Di Centa, who had never won an individual race in the

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

, arrived in great shape for the

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He would finish a disappointing fourth in the 30 km double pursuit, losing a medal at the finish to fellow Italian

Pietro Piller Cottrer Pietro Piller Cottrer (born 20 December 1974) is an Italian former cross-country skier who won gold medal in the 4 ×10 km relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He was born at Sappada in the province of Udine. Career Piller Cottrer' ...

. The two were also key players in the strongest Italian relay team ever, winning gold in the 4 x 10 km race. Di Centa's greatest victory was in the 50 km race where he defeated

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 ...

n Eugeni Dementiev by 0.8 seconds, the closest 50 km event in Olympic history, eclipsing

Thomas Wassberg Thomas Lars Wassberg (born 27 March 1956) is a Swedish former cross-country skier. A fast skating style – push for every leg – is still called "Wassberg" after him in several countries. Wassberg's skiing idols when growing up were Sixten Je ...

's 4.9 second victory over

Gunde Svan Gunde Anders Svan (born 12 January 1962) is a Swedish former cross-country skier and auto racing driver. During his cross-country skiing career he won a total of four gold, one silver and one bronze medals at the Winter Olympics. Svan won a total ...

(both

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

) at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

. The medals ceremony for the 50 km occurred during the Closing Ceremony where Di Centa's sister, Olympic medalist

, presented him with the gold medal. He won a bronze medal in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 ( cs, Mistrovství světa v klasickém lyžování Liberec 2009) took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in ...

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

. For 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 ...

, a picture of Di Centa in competition during the 50 km event at the previous Olympics was used as a

pictogram A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and ...

for the

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

events. In September 2009, it was announced that Di Centa was named flagbearer for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

for the 2010 Games. He retired on 1 March 2015 at the age of 42, after the end of the 50 km at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 took place between 18 February and 1 March 2015 in Falun, Sweden. This was the fourth time the event is held there, having previously been held there in 1954, 1974 and 1993. In 1980, one World Ski Cha ...

. On 20 December 2015 he returned to the World Cup race in the 15 km classic in

Toblach Toblach (; it, Dobbiaco ) is a ''comune''/''Gemeinde'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located in the Puster Valley about northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria. Geography As of November 30, 2010, it had ...

, Italy. The father of three children, his daughter Martina competed for

Italy at the 2022 Winter Olympics Italy competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. With Milan- Cortina d'Ampezzo being the host of the 2026 Winter Olympics, an Italian segment was performed at the closing ceremony. Competitors The follo ...

in Cross-country skiing.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 3 medals – (2 gold, 1 silver)

World Championships

* 4 medals – (1 silver, 3 bronze)

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

*1 victory – (1 ) *13 podiums – (10 , 3 )

Team podiums

* 7 victories – (2 , 5 ) * 23 podiums – (15 , 8 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Centa, Giorgio 1972 births Living people People from Tolmezzo Italian male cross-country skiers Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic cross-country skiers of Italy Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Cross-country skiers of Centro Sportivo Carabinieri FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Tour de Ski skiers Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Friuli-Venezia Giulia