Piero Gros

Piero Gros

Gros c. 1973
Personal information
Born 30 October 1954 (1954-10-30) (age 61)
Sauze d'Oulx, Italy
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
Sport Alpine skiing
Club Sci Club Sauze D'Oulx,
GS Fiamme Gialle

Piero Gros (born 30 October 1954) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from northwestern Italy. He won the gold medal in slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, and was the World Cup overall champion in 1974.[1]

Biography

Gros was born at Sauze d'Oulx, in the province of Turin in the Piedmont region. He learned to ski at an early age, thanks to Aldo Monaci and Aldo Zulian. At the age of 8, he was for the first time on the podium of local race. Gros made his debut in the World Cup at age 18 in December 1972. In that 1973 season, he won two races in Val d'Isère and Madonna di Campiglio; he was the youngest Italian skier ever to win a World Cup race. Two years later he won the overall title, sharing this result in Italy only with his friend and rival Gustav Thöni and with Alberto Tomba. Thöni had won the overall title the three preceding seasons and would reclaim it in 1975; he was the runner-up in 1974, and if not for Gros, would've won an unthinkable five consecutive overall titles. Gros also won the bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 1974 World Championships in St. Moritz.

His most notable and best result was the gold medal in the slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics: he preceded the silver medalist Thöni, in the most successful race ever for Italy at the Winter Olympics. According to Gros, that race was also significant in which he defeated the then almost unbeatable Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, to which Gros had been second for six times in that 1976 World Cup season. Gros won another world championship medal in 1978, taking silver in slalom. Stenmark's dominance was the major factor in Gros' limited success in the late 1970s.

During his career, Piero Gros won a total of 12 World Cup races; 7 in giant slalom and 5 in slalom. He had 35 World Cup podiums (top 3) and 98 top ten finishes.[2] Gros retired from international competition following the 1982 season, at the age of 27.[1]

In 1985–1990 he was mayor of his native village of Sauze d'Oulx. In the meantime he worked as sport commentator for various television stations, including RAI, the Italian State Network. He held various executive positions att the 1997 World Championships in Sestriere and was involved with the 2006 Winter Olympics as head of the volunteers and deputy mayor of the Olympic Village in Sestriere. He carried the Olympic torch at the Opening Ceremony.[1]

His son Giorgio (b. 1981) is also a former alpine ski racer; he raced on the European Cup circuit until 2006 and competed in over twenty World Cup speed events.[3]

World Cup results

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom
Super G Downhill Combined
1973 18 10 6 4 not
run
not
awarded
1974 19 1 4 1
1975 20 4 3 2
1976 21 2 2 3 6
1977 22 4 4 5 not
awarded
1978 23 8 4 9
1979 24 4 7 6
1980 25 29 18 24 11
1981 26 28 8
1982 27 10 15

Season titles

Season Discipline
1974 Overall
Giant Slalom

Individual races

Season Date Location Discipline
1973 17 December 1972 Italy Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Slalom
18 December 1972 France Val d'Isère, France Giant Slalom
1974 17 December 1973 Italy Sterzing, Italy Slalom
7 January 1974 West Germany Berchtesgaden, West Germany Giant Slalom
13 January 1974 France Morzine, France Giant Slalom
3 March 1974 Norway Voss, Norway Slalom
9 March 1974 Czechoslovakia Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia Giant Slalom
1975 5 December 1974 France Val d'Isère, France Giant Slalom
18 December 1974 Italy Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Giant Slalom
6 January 1975 West Germany Garmisch, West Germany Slalom
13 January 1975 Switzerland Adelboden, Switzerland Giant Slalom
19 January 1975 Austria Kitzbühel, Austria Slalom

References

  1. 1 2 3 Piero Gros. sports-reference.com
  2. Piero Gros. ski-db.com
  3. FIS-ski.com – Giorgio Gros – accessed 20 March 2012

External links

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