![Olympic rings](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Olympic_rings_with_transparent_rims.svg)
Nino Bibbia (15 March 1922 – 28 May 2013) was an Italian
skeleton racer
Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or -sleigh), down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of ...
and
bobsled
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
der who competed in the late 1940s.
Born in
Bianzone,
Lombardy, he won the gold medal in the men's skeleton event at the
1948 Winter Olympics
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...
in
St. Moritz.
He was
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 ...
's first
Winter Olympic
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 hel ...
medalist in any sport, its first gold medalist in the Winter Games, and its first in bobsleigh,
luge, and
skeleton.
Biography
Bibbia also competed in
bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
at those same games, finishing sixth in the four-man and eighth in the two-man event respectively.
[ Bibbia was also involved in other winter sports, including ]ski jumping
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
, cross-country skiing, and alpine skiing. All told, he earned 231 golds, 97 silvers, and 84 bronzes in his illustrious career.
Turn 10 at Cesana Pariol
Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana. The venue holds approximately 7,130 spectators, of whom 3,624 are seated.
Cons ...
, where the bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
, luge, and skeleton competitions 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 ...
took place, is named in Bibbia's honor.
Bibbia spent the last years of his life in Engadin
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 ...
, where he died at the age of 91 on 28 May 2013.
References
Notes
Men's skeleton Olympic medalists since 1928
* Wallechinsky, David (1984). ''The Complete Book of the Olympics: 1896 - 1980''. New York: Penguin Books. pp. 558, 560, 577.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibbia, Nino
1922 births
2013 deaths
Sportspeople from the Province of Sondrio
Italian male bobsledders
Italian male skeleton racers
Olympic bobsledders of Italy
Olympic skeleton racers of Italy
Olympic gold medalists for Italy
Bobsledders at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Skeleton racers at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Olympic medalists in skeleton
Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics