Manuela Di Centa, (born 31 January 1963) is a former

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 ...

cross-country skier and Olympic athlete. She is the sister of former cross-country skier

Giorgio Di Centa Giorgio Di Centa (born 7 October 1972 in Tolmezzo, Province of Udine) is an Italian former cross-country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race. He is the younger brother of ...

and cousin of former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete

Venanzio Ortis Venanzio Ortis (born 29 January 1955) is an Italian retired long-distance runner who won two medals at the 1978 European Championships. Biography Ortis was born in Paluzza, province of Udine. He started racing in 1969 (for a period he also pra ...

Career

Di Centa, born in

Paluzza Paluzza ( fur, Paluce) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. A local term in the Bavarian language for " hello" is . Geography It is located about northwest of Trieste and about nor ...

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 ...

, to a family of Nordic skiers, made her debut on the Italian national team in 1980 at the age of 17, skied with the G.S. Forestale. Two years later, she competed at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

in Oslo finishing in eighth place. After a quarrel with the president of the Italian Skiing Federation, Di Centa left the national team, not returning until 1986. At the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, she finished sixth in the 20 km freestyle. She won her first medals in international competition at the 1991 World Championships in

Val di Fiemme 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html"_;"title="Lagorai_seen_from_Passo_Lusia">Lagorai_seen_from_Passo_Lusia. Fiemme_Valley_(_it.html" ;"title="Passo_Lusia..html" ;"title="Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagora ...

: a silver (4 × 5 km relay) and two bronzes (5 km, 30 km). An Olympic medal followed in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, a bronze in the 4 × 5 km relay. In 1993, at the Falun World Championships, she won two more silvers (30 km, 4 × 5 km relay). At the

1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1995 took place 9–19 March 1995 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. This marked the second time the separate championships (not part of Winter Olympics) were held outside Europe (the first was in the US towns ...

, she won another silver (30 km) and a bronze (5 km). Di Centa also became Italian national champion in fell running in 1985, 1989 and 1991. Di Centa seemed confined to the role of the eternal second, but this changed abruptly at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, where she medaled in all five cross-country events: two gold, two silver and one bronze medal. The same year she also won her first aggregate Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, a feat she repeated in 1996. In 1996 she was the first Italian cross-country skier to receive the Holmenkollen Medal. Her last title was a bronze 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 ...

in the 4 × 5 km relay. After retiring, Di Centa worked for Italian television (

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

), and became a member of the Italian and

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

s. Di Centa became the first Italian woman to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

(with supplementary oxygen) in 2003. Di Centa is the first Italian woman (and the 19th Italian) to compete at five Olympics, which she did from 1984 to 1998. Her younger brother Giorgio is currently a member of the Italian national cross-country ski team and was the winner of 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 ...

. At the 2018 Winter Olympics di Centa was inducted into the Olympians for Life project. Her niece, 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.

2006 Winter Olympics

As a member of the International Olympic Committee and the

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

(CONI) and as one of Italy's most accomplished Winter Olympic athletes, Di Centa played a prominent public role in 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 ...

. She was one of the eight flag bearers during the

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

. At the Closing Ceremonies, she participated in the awarding of medals to the winners of the men's 50 km cross-country race. Coincidentally, the gold medal winner was her younger brother Giorgio.

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 7 medals – (2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)

World Championships

* 7 medals – (4 silver, 3 bronze)

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

*15 victories *35 podiums

Team podiums

* 1 victory – (1 ) * 9 podiums – (8 , 1 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

National titles

* Italian Mountain Running Championships **

Mountain running Mountain running is a sports discipline which takes place mainly off-road in mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. In this it differs from fell running; also its courses are more ...

: 1985, 1989, 1991 (3)

Politics

Manuela Di Centa, who has been vice-president of the National Council of the

(CONI) until 2006, is also involved in politics and was a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

, between 2006 and 2013. She became a member of the

in 1999 and remained there until 2010.

Doping allegations

The Swedish investigative television program ''

Uppdrag granskning ''Uppdrag granskning'' (English name: ''Mission: Investigate'') is a Swedish television program focusing on investigative journalism. The program is produced by and aired on SVT and has become known for the use of concealed cameras and microphon ...

'' claimed that Di Centa had an exceptionally high hemoglobin level prior to a World Cup in Lahti in 1997. Di Centa's hemoglobin value was measured in an official pre-competition test as high as 17.3 g/dL. The allowed limit to start in official FIS competition is 16.5 g/dL.

References

External links

*
Holmenkollen medalists
- click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Centa, Manuela 1963 births Living people People from Paluzza Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists International Olympic Committee members Italian female cross-country skiers Italian female mountain runners Olympic cross-country skiers of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Italian summiters of Mount Everest Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Friuli-Venezia Giulia