Giorgio Di Centa

Giorgio Di Centa (born 7 October 1972 in Tolmezzo, Province of Udine) is an Italian former cross-country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race. He is the younger brother of Olympic gold medalist, cross-country skier Manuela Di Centa.

Biography Di Centa began cross-county skiing very early in a family in which his elder brother Andrea was also a professional skier. At the age of 16, he became a member of Italy's junior team while also skiing for the Carabinieri sport team. He became a member of Italy's senior team in 1995. He finished 8th in the 30 km event at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

After a silver medal at the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in the double pursuit and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in the 4 x 10 km. Di Centa, who had never won an individual race in the cross-country skiing World Cup, arrived in great shape for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He would finish a disappointing fourth in the 30 km double pursuit, losing a medal at the finish to fellow Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer. The two were also key players in the strongest Italian relay team ever, winning gold in the 4 x 10 km race.

Olympic Games 3 medals – (2 gold, 1 silver) Year Age 10 km 15 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km relay Team sprint 1998 25 — — 8 — — 2002 29 35 4 — 11 — Silver 2006 33 — 4 Gold — Gold 9 2010 37 10 12 11 — 9 — 2014 41 — 11 — — 5 —

World Championships 4 medals – (1 silver, 3 bronze) Year Age 10 km 15 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km relay Team sprint 1997 24 17 12 — — Bronze 1999 26 18 11 — — Bronze 2001 28 — 18 34 — — — 2003 30 — 27 — — — — 2005 32 14 Silver — — 4 — 2007 34 25 11 31 — 9 — 2009 36 — Bronze 4 — 4 — 2011 38 — 10 9 — 5 — 2013 40 — 16 19 — 4 — 2015 42 — — 22 — — —

World Cup Season standings Season Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standingsOverallDistanceLong DistanceMiddle DistanceSprintNordicOpeningTour deSkiWorld CupFinalSki TourCanada 1994 21 1995 22 81 1996 23 22 1997 24 16 27 11 1998 25 45 35 63 1999 26 25 34 35 2000 27 46 61 38 39 2001 28 16 12 2002 29 26 31 2003 30 11 55 2004 31 23 16 2005 32 8 5 2006 33 16 8 — 2007 34 36 29 80 20 2008 35 5 7 38 2009 36 8 13 26 4 15 2010 37 10 6 102 10 10 2011 38 17 16 85 31 13 4 2012 39 31 27 77 31 15 15 2013 40 11 14 87 28 8 7 2014 41 55 52 26 17 — 2015 42 104 62 75 33 2016 43 — — — — 2017 44 — —

Individual podiums 1 victory – (1 ) 13 podiums – (10 , 3 )

Team podiums 7 victories – (2 , 5 ) 23 podiums – (15 , 8 )

Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.