Piero Gros

Piero "Pierino" Gros (born 30 October 1954) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from northwestern Italy. He won the gold medal in slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, and was the World Cup overall champion in 1974.

Biography Gros was born at Sauze d'Oulx, in the province of Turin in the Piedmont region. He learned to ski at an early age, thanks to Aldo Monaci and Aldo Zulian. At the age of 8, he was for the first time on the podium of a local race. Gros made his debut in the World Cup at age 18 in December 1972. In that 1973 season, he won two races in Val d'Isère and Madonna di Campiglio; he was the youngest Italian skier ever to win a World Cup race. Two years later he won the overall title, sharing this result in Italy only with his friend and rival Gustav Thöni and with Alberto Tomba. Thöni had won the overall title the three preceding seasons and would reclaim it in 1975; he was the runner-up in 1974, and if not for Gros, would've won an unthinkable five consecutive overall titles. Gros also won the bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 1974 World Championships in St. Moritz.

His most notable and best result was the gold medal in the slalom at the 1976 Winter Olympics: he preceded the silver medalist Thöni, in the most successful race ever for Italy at the Winter Olympics. According to Gros, that race was also significant in which he defeated the then almost unbeatable Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, to which Gros had been second six times in that 1976 World Cup season. Gros won another world championship medal in 1978, taking silver in slalom. Stenmark's dominance was the major factor in Gros' limited success in the late 1970s.

During his career, Piero Gros won a total of 12 World Cup races; 7 in giant slalom and 5 in slalom. He had 35 World Cup podiums (top 3) and 98 top ten finishes. Gros retired from international competition following the 1982 season, at the age of 27.

World Cup results

Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom Giantslalom Super G Downhill Combined 1973 18 10 6 4 notrun — notawarded 1974 19 1 4 1 — 1975 20 4 2 2 — 1976 21 2 2 3 — 6 1977 22 4 4 5 — notawarded 1978 23 8 4 9 — 1979 24 4 7 6 — 1980 25 29 18 24 — 11 1981 26 28 8 — — — 1982 27 50 15 — — —

Season titles Season Discipline 1974 Overall Giant slalom

Individual races 12 wins – (7 GS, 5 SL) 35 podiums – (16 GS, 17, 2 K) Season Date Location Discipline 1973 8 December 1972 Val d'Isère, France Giant slalom 17 December 1972 Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Slalom 1974 17 December 1973 Sterzing, Italy Slalom 7 January 1974 Berchtesgaden, West Germany Giant slalom 13 January 1974 Morzine, France Giant slalom 3 March 1974 Voss, Norway Slalom 9 March 1974 Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia Giant slalom 1975 5 December 1974 Val d'Isère, France Giant slalom 18 December 1974 Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Giant slalom 6 January 1975 Garmisch, West Germany Slalom 13 January 1975 Adelboden, Switzerland Giant slalom 19 January 1975 Kitzbühel, Austria Slalom