Giuliano Seeks Italian Gold In Vancouver!
Italy’s new slalom king, Giuliano Razzoli will be going all out for gold in the Winter Olympics taking place in Canada next month. He has a real chance of clinching a medal to cement his growing reputation on the alpine circuit.
Italy is becoming increasingly popular for ski enthusiasts from around the world. The combination of beautiful scenery, beautiful people and beautiful food, as well as a huge selection of runs that suit every skiier from the beginner to the expert, have seen it become the place to go this Winter. Ski Italy have a wide selection of information and resorts for those of you who will be inspired by the events of Vancouver 2010.
Whilst ski tourism is becoming increasingly popular in Italy, the fortunes of the country’s professional skiiers have been less successful in recent times. The legendary Alberto Tomba was the last great Italian champion, winning Gold medals at two Olympics and becoming World Champion at both slalom and giant slalom. It is now fourteen years since the success of Tomba La Bomba however and despite sporadic success since then, the azzuri are still waiting for their next major international victory. Giuliano Razzoli, an unassuming 25 year old from Castelnuovo ne Monti, is being seen as the natural successor to Tomba and next month could see him reach the heights in the Olympic slalom event.
Razzoli’s performances have been improving gradually over the last three years but 2010 has seen his big breakthrough. Zagreb saw Razzioli claim his first World Cup victory when he beat fellow Italian Manfred Moelgg, a frustratingly inconsistent performer this season, and Julien Lizeroux, the world Silver medallist from France. Razzoli has followed this triumph up with a 3rd place finish on a demanding Kitzbuehel course. Giuliano now finds himself in 6th place overall in the World Cup standings and his confidence will be high as the Italian team make their way to Vancouver.
Razzoli seemed genuinely overwhelmed to be congratulated by Tomba himself after his victory in Zagreb but it could be a moment that signalled the changing of the guard. I believe that the Italian ski team, with the young slalom king Razzoli at their head, could soon find themselves as successful as the wonderful resorts that they hail from.