From bricklayer to World Championships ski cross bronze medallist, Italy’s Gunsch never gives up

Italian ski cross racer and part-time bricklayer Yanick Gunsch will have a lot to talk about at work once he returns home from the 2025 World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland.

Twenty-eight-year-old Gunsch claimed bronze in the Mixed Team final with teammate Jole Galli at the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships on Saturday 22 March.

Switzerland's Fanny Smith and Ryan Regez won gold in a photo finish with French duo Jade Grillet-Aubert and Melvin Tchiknavorian.

For 29-year-old Galli it was her second consecutive bronze medal after she was paired with teammate Federico Tomasoni at the 2023 World Championships.

Galli said finishing ninth in the women’s ski cross competition in Engadin had made her even more determined to finish on the Mixed Team podium.

“I was full of energy and I told Yannick ‘we are not the fastest, for sure, but we are the best’,” she said.

Galli and Gunsch did not know they would contest the Mixed Team event together until the evening before the race. Gunsch said the prospect of securing bronze in his first team event was “unbelievable”, but Galli was confident the pair would be able to combine their strengths on the Corviglia course when it mattered most.

“I feel that we have the mentality. And I told Yanick, ‘if I have to choose someone to partner with, I’m sure I want to choose him’,” she said.

Galli was also buoyed by her five top-three World Cup finishes in the 2024/25 season, including two victories in Val di Fassa (ITA) and Gudauri (GEO) in February and March respectively. She also finished third at the most recent World Cup in Craigleith (CAN) on 14 March.

“I had a good season, so for him it’s good to know that I believe in him, and if he believes in me, then I know we can bring something big,” she said.

For Gunsch, Galli’s competitive edge and the support of the entire Italian ski cross team is what he thinks helped them get over the line in third place.

“We only have one girl in the (Italian) group, and she’s one of us,” he said.

“I think this year our whole team is very strong and it pushes us in training. Everyone pushes more and more so that we can reach a high level.”

Gunsch admitted to feeling nervous before the final but he was able to channel those nerves into a medal-winning performance.

“I was very nervous before the start but I tried to be calm and thought ‘go down and push to the finish line and see what happens’,” he said.

“Today maybe not being calm was a good thing.”

Balancing ski cross training and work has also been instrumental to his mental preparations, Gunsch said.

“I learned to never give up.”

The part-time bricklayer will now be able to convince his colleagues that he really is a ski cross athlete.

“They don’t believe I do ski cross (laughs),” Gunsch said.

“They say ‘no, it’s not true’ when I tell them that in winter I’m racing, I’m in the World Cup.

“I will show them the medal.”