Cortina, a land of Olympic Champions

Sport is at home in Cortina. It is here that great Olympic and Paralympic champions were born and raised –athletes who have played a defining role in the history of Italian sport.

Among the first are the historic bobsleigh athletes from Ampezzo Renzo Alverà, Eugenio Monti and Ulrico Girardi, silver medallists at the home Olympic Games of 1956. Monti, together with Roberto Zandonella, later went on to win Olympic gold at the Grenoble 1968 Games.

From Nordic skiing disciplines come further major achievements by Pietro Piller Cottrer (gold in the 4×10 km cross-country relay at Turin 2006) and Lisa Vittozzi (bronze in the biathlon mixed relay at PyeongChang 2018). Both athletes are from the near Sappada, but have long trained in and around Cortina.

Completing the picture is local curling star Stefania Constantini, reigning Olympic champion, who won gold in the mixed doubles event at the Beijing 2022 Games – Italy’s first-ever Olympic medal in curling.

In the Paralympic arena, standout athletes include Fabrizio Zardini (gold in Super-G and bronze in downhill at the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Games) and René De Silvestro (silver in giant slalom and bronze in slalom at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games).