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Gustav Thöni (sometimes listed as Gustavo Thoeni) (born February 28, 1951) is a former champion alpine skier from northern Italy.
[edit] Career
Gustav Thöni was born in the mainly German speaking province of Bolzano-Bozen, in the community of Trafoi (Stilfs-Stelvio, Vinschgau-Val Venosta) which is situated on the northern ramp of the Stelvio Pass. He currently operates a hotel there.
Ranked among the greatest Italian skiers ever, Thöni won three Olympic medals and a total of four overall World Cup titles in five years in the early 1970s. The four titles are an achievement he shares with Pirmin Zurbriggen and Hermann Maier, exceeded only by Marc Girardelli's five.
Thöni was the dominant skier in the technical events (slalom and giant slalom) in the early 1970s. He was first seen on the world stage when he placed well in the 1971 World Cup at Sugarloaf in the northeast state of Maine in the United States. His first victory on the World Cup circuit was in a slalom at Val d'Isere, France in December 1969. Still a teenager, he had a very successful rookie year during that 1970 season with four victories and nine podiums. He finished third in the overall standings, just eight points behind winner Karl Schranz. Thöni would win the overall title the next three seasons of 1971-1973, and again in 1975. He was succeeded as the dominant technical skier by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, then by Alberto Tomba.
The year that Thöni did not win (1974), he was a close second to his fellow countryman and friend Piero Gros. The near-miss of five consecutive overall titles is a record that would most likely never have been broken.
Although he concentrated on the technical events, he did occasionally compete in the only speed event of the era, the downhill (Super-G was not run on the circuit until December 1982). His best finish in a downhill was a second place on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel in January 1975. After more than two minutes on the classic Streif course, he lost to the up-and-coming Austrian legend Franz Klammer by just one hundredth of a second, a distance of about 25 cm (10 inches) at 130 km/h (80 mph). This event inspited a low-success movie featuring Thöni himself, directed by Duccio Tessari in 1981.
He also won a number of combined events (downhill & slalom) during his career, including the non-medal titles in the combined at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics (but counted as World Championship titles).
Thöni's final victory in a slalom came in March 1975 at Sun Valley. He won a parallel slalom ("pro-style" heats) the following week in Val Gardena, Italy. His last win in giant slalom was in January 1976, and his final World Cup victory was in the combined at Kitzbühel in January 1977. His last podium finish was a third place in the slalom at Åre, Sweden, in February 1979.
He finished eighth in the slalom at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. As the torch had been passed on to the two top finishers, Stenmark and American Phil Mahre, Thöni retired from World Cup competition a month later in March 1980 at the age of 29.
His cousin Roland Thöni was also a good alpine skiers in the 1970s.
[edit] World cup victories
- World Cup races (more than 300):
- 64 podiums
- 24 victories
- 22 second places
- 18 third places
| Date |
Location |
Race |
| February 2, 1972 |
 Heavenly Valley |
Giant Slalom |
| January 15, 1973 |
 Adelboden |
Giant Slalom |
| February 4, 1973 |
 Sankt Anton |
Slalom |
| March 4, 1973 |
 Mount Sante Anne |
Slalom |
| January 20, 1974 |
Adelboden |
Giant Slalom |
| March 2, 1974 |
 Voss |
Giant Slalom |
| March 10, 1974 |
 Vysoke Tatry |
Slalom |
| January 12, 1975 |
Wengen |
Combined |
| January 19, 1975 |
Kitzbühel |
Combined |
| January 30, 1975 |
 Chamonix |
Slalom |
| February 1, 1975 |
Megeve |
Combined |
| March 15, 1975 |
Sun Valley |
Slalom |
| March 23, 1975 |
 Val Gardena |
Parallel |
| December 5, 1975 |
Val d'Isère |
Giant Slalom |
| December 1, 1976 |
Adelboden |
Giant Slalom |
| January 16, 1977 |
Wengen |
Combined |
[edit] External links
