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Deborah Compagnoni
Alpine skier
Deborah Compagnoni (cropped).jpg
Compagnoni in March 2010
Born (1970-06-04) 4 June 1970 (age 54)
Bormio, Italy
Height 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
World Cup debut 1986
Retired 1999
Olympics
Medals 4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Medals 3 (3 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 14
Wins 16
Podiums 44
Overall titles 0 (4th 1998 & 1999)
Discipline titles 1 (Gs 1997)
Medal record
International alpine ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 0
World Championships 3 0 0
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Super-G 2 0 1
Giant 13 10 8
Slalom 1 5 4
Olympic Games
Gold 1992 Albertville Super-G
Gold 1994 Lillehammer Giant slalom
Gold 1998 Nagano Giant slalom
Silver 1998 Nagano Slalom
World Championships
Gold 1996 Sierra Nevada Giant slalom
Gold 1997 Sestrière Giant slalom
Gold 1997 Sestrière Slalom

Deborah Compagnoni (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdɛːbora kompaɲˈɲoːni]; born 4 June 1970) is an Italian former Alpine skier who won three gold medals at the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics.

Biography

Deborah Compagnoni was born in Bormio, northern Lombardy, and skied with the G.S. Forestale club.

Compagnoni soon attracted attention for her great talent. Her career was always marked by major successes, but also by serious accidents. After her first major victory, the World Junior title in giant slalom, and her first podium in World Cup, she broke her right knee in the Val d'Isère downhill. After surgery, she decided to stop competing in downhill races, where her talent could have permitted even greater successes than those she obtained in her still outstanding career.

Compagnoni won her first race in the World Cup in 1992. She also won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics of the same year, again in the super-G; however, while racing the giant slalom one day later, she destroyed her left knee.

In the following years, she left the speed disciplines (downhill and Super-G), confirming herself as one of the best giant slalom specialists. Her fragile knees hindered Compagnoni's practice activity, and limited the number of victories in the World Cup; however, she always arrived in her best shape for the major championships. In 1994, at the Lillehammer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the giant slalom, a feat she repeated four years later in Nagano. In 1998, she won also a silver medal in the Slalom, finishing second by only 0.06 seconds.

Compagnoni won the World Championship in giant slalom in 1996; in the following year's edition, she repeated the victory, alongside winning with the slalom title, a feat never accomplished by any other Italian female skier. She won a total of 16 races in the Alpine Skiing World Cup (13 giant slalom, 2 super-G, and 1 slalom), plus a giant slalom World Cup in 1997.

Deborah Compagnoni is considered the best Italian female skier of all time, the equal of famous male champions like Gustav Thöni and Alberto Tomba. The World Cup skiing track in her native Santa Caterina Valfurva has been named after her.

She is married to Alessandro Benetton, and they have three children: Agnese, Tobias, and Luce; they live in Ponzano Veneto, Italy. They separated in 2021. Her brother Jacopo Compagnoni, a fellow Alpine skier, died during an avalanche on Monte Sobretta on 16 December 2021, at the age of 40.

World Cup results

Season titles

Season Discipline
1997 Giant slalom

Season standings

Season Overall Downhill Super-G Giant slalom Slalom Combined
Place Points Place Points Place Points Place Points Place Points Place Points
1987/88 40. 24 22. 12 17. 12
1988/89 did not participate due to an injury
1989/90 52. 19 22. 9 24. 10
1990/91 57. 12 17. 12
1991/92 11. 590 15. 126 4. 344 19. 120
1992/93 11. 535 6. 230 8. 200 17. 105
1993/94 6. 841 18. 91 3. 515 12. 195 12. 40
1994/95 12. 524 25. 74 5. 325 14. 125
1995/96 22. 346 6. 280 30. 66
1996/97 4. 967 1. 560 3. 407
1997/98 4. 912 2. 565 6. 304
1998/99 22. 347 9. 256 23. 91

Races victories

These are her world cup victories.

Date Location Race
26 January 1992 Morzine Super-G
7 March 1993 Morzine Super-G
5 December 1993 Tignes Giant slalom
11 December 1993 Veysonnaz Giant slalom
5 January 1994 Morzine Giant slalom
8 January 1995 Haus im Ennstal Giant slalom
2 March 1996 Narvik Giant slalom
29 December 1996 Semmering Slalom
17 January 1997 Zwiesel Giant slalom
18 January 1997 Zwiesel Giant slalom
26 January 1997 Cortina d'Ampezzo Giant slalom
15 March 1997 Vail Giant slalom
25 October 1997 Tignes Giant slalom
21 November 1997 Park City Giant slalom
19 December 1997 Val-d'Isère Giant slalom
6 January 1998 Bormio Giant slalom

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Deborah Compagnoni para niños

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