Michela FIGINI
Aug 31, 2018·Alpine Skiing
Michela Figini was one of the best skiers of the 1980's in the speed disciplines. She won 26 world Cup races, 17 of which in Downhill (only the great Moser-Proell did better with 36 DH victories from 1971 to 1980) that earned her two titles in the Overall Cup in 1985 and 1980 and four DH titles (1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989) one SuperG title (1988) and even a GS title (1985). The rivalry with her teammate Maria Walliser, a more glamorous athlete, dominated the World Cup scene throughout her career. They shared gold medals in downhill from 1984 to 1989 and the Overall World Cups from 1985 to 1988.
She made her debut in the World Cup on January 21st 1983, finishing in 13th place in the combined event of Schrums, Austria. A year later she conquered her first victory, winning the DH at Megeve, France. She reached her peak in 1984, when she was only 18 years old, with a gold medal at the Olympic games of Sarajevo, ahead of Maria Wallisser and Olga Charvatová. In the 1988 Olympics of Calgary she managed a silver medal in SuperG, finishing behind Sigrid Wolf.
In the World Championships she won a gold in Dh at Valtellina and two years later she had to settle for silver in the SuperG at Crans-Montana. However, he wasn't the youngest World Cup winner - Austria's Annemarie Moser-Proell was 18 when she conquered her first Crystal globe in 1971. But Figini had already won two gold medals at Olympic and World Championships which made her the youngest skier ever to have achieved this phenomenal hat-trick.
"Michi" was one of the strongest personalities within the "White Circus" until 1990. Figini gave up ski racing because of a problems with her head coach, Jan Tischhauer. The stubborn Michaela was only 24 but she wanted to live a quieter life. Her last race dates back to February 11th 1990, a 13th place, just like her debut, in the SuperG of Meribel.
In 2000 Michela Figini was voted Ticino (the Italian speaking region of Switzerland) Sporting Personality of the century alongside former F1 champion Clay Regazzoni. She speaks four languages fluently (Italian, French, English and German) and she carried the Olympic torch for the games in Turin. She is married with Ivano Camozzi, former Italian skier, and they have a daughter called Valentina.
