Kristian Ghedina

Kristian Ghedina (; born 20 November 1969) is an Italian alpine skiing coach and former competitive racer. His 13 victories are the second most by an Italian downhill specialist in World Cup history: the first is Dominik Paris with 21 victories. He is currently an auto racer.

Biography Ghedina was born in Cortina d'Ampezzo in the province of Belluno, and his mother tongue is Ladin. He studied in Innsbruck and made his World Cup debut in 1989. The following year, after a series of initial podiums and a ruinous fall, he won the last two downhills of the season. He won the silver medal in the Combined race of the 1991 World Championships at Saalbach, Austria; however, the following year he suffered a serious car crash.

Ghedina returned to his best form only in 1995, remaining among the best specialists in the speed disciplines until 2001, when he obtained the last of his 13 World Cup victories (12 Downhills and one Super-G, with a total of 33 podiums). He won also another silver medal at the 1996 and a bronze in the 1997 championships, both in downhill. After his last World Cup victory he kept on racing for another five seasons, reaching 15 top-ten results, two of them podiums.

Ghedina probably gave his most remarkable performance on 24 January 2004 at the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel: on the last jump, approaching the finish line at a speed of 137,6 km/h, he produced a straddle in the air ("spread eagle") which amazed spectators and TV commentators; nevertheless he gained a temporary lead in the race, which he finished sixth in the end.

Ghedina retired from ski racing following the 2006 season. He has raced a BMW in the Italian Superturismo Championship and, driving a Lola, in the Formula 3000 International Masters. In 2012, he started working with the Croatian national ski team, advising the team on the alpine speed disciplines.

World Cup results Podium 13 wins (12 DH, 1 SG) 33 podiums (29 DH, 4 SG)

Overall Year/RankOverall DownhillGiantSuper-GCombined Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank Points1990 15th 97 6th 98 - - - - 7th 101991 22nd 63 11th 40 32nd 3 19th 10 6th 101992 43rd 206 15th 147 - - 39th 33 29th 261993 57th 139 27th 110 - - - - 20th 291994 40th 207 19th 146 - - 39th 9 7th 521995 7th 628 2nd 473 32nd 29 7th 126 - -1996 15th 492 8th 237 46th 9 10th 170 5th 761997 4th 990 2nd 700 - - 5th 218 6th 721998 11th 544 6th 412 - - 10th 114 - -1999 20th 355 8th 296 - - 36th 14 9th 452000 4th 958 2nd 677 - - 8th 216 8th 652001 60th 95 21st 95 - - - - - -2002 10th 505 3rd 381 - - 15th 88 12th 362003 98th 38 36th 35 - - 57th 3 - -2004 49th 169 20th 169 - - - - - -2005 32nd 257 12th 225 - - 34th 32 - -2006 35th 235 10th 235 - - - - - -