Manuela Di Centa
Encyclopedia
Manuela Di Centa (born January 31, 1963) is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 cross-country skier and former Olympic athlete. She is the cousin of former track and field athlete Venanzio Ortis
Venanzio Ortis
Venanzio Ortis is an Italian retired long-distance runner who won two medals at the 1978 European Championships.-Biography:Ortis was born in Paluzza, province of Udine....

 and the sister of cross-country skier Giorgio Di Centa
Giorgio Di Centa
Giorgio Di Centa is an Italian cross country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race...

.

Career

Di Centa, born in Paluzza
Paluzza
Paluzza is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 120 km northwest of Trieste and about 50 km northwest of Udine, in the Carnia, on the border with Austria....

, province of Udine
Province of Udine
The Province of Udine is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia. Its capital is the city of Udine....

, to a family of Nordic skiers, made her debut on the Italian national team in 1980 at the age of 17. Two years later, she competed at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

 in Oslo finishing in eighth place. After a quarrel with the president of the Italian Skiing Federation, Di Centa left the national team, not returning until 1986.

At the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...

 in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, she finished sixth in the 20 km freestyle. She won her first medals in international competition at the 1991 World Championships
1991 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1991 took place 7–17 February 1991 in Val di Fiemme, Italy. The women's 5 km was reintroduced after not being held in the previous championships. The men's 10 km was introduced in this championships...

 in Val di Fiemme
Val di Fiemme
thumb|300px|Location of the Fiemme Valley in [[Trentino]].thumb|300px|The [[Lagorai]] seen from [[Passo Lusia]].Fiemme Valley is a valley in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region in northern Italy located in the Dolomites mountain region....

: a silver (4 x 5 km) and two bronzes (5 km, 30 km). An Olympic medal followed in 1992
1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...

, a bronze in the 4 x 5 km. In 1993, at the Falun World Championships
1993 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1993 took place 19–28 February 1993 in Falun, Sweden, for the third time . This event saw the creation of the combined pursuit where competitors would skate one distance in the classical interval style one day, then follow the next day in the freestyle...

, she won two more silvers (30 km, 4 x 5 km). At the 1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
1995 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1995 took place 9–19 March 1995 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. This marked the second time the championships were held outside of Europe...

, she won another silver (30 km) and a bronze (5 km).

Di Centa also became Italian national champion in fell running
Fell running
Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty...

 in 1985, 1989 and 1991.

Di Centa seemed confined to the role of the eternal second, but this changed abruptly at the 1994 Winter Olympics
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...

 in Lillehammer
Lillehammer
is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

, where she medaled in all five cross-country events: two gold, two silver and one bronze medal. The same year she also won her first aggregate Cross Country Skiing World Cup, a feat she repeated in 1996.

In 1996 she was the first Italian cross country skier to receive the Holmenkollen Medal
Holmenkollen medal
The Holmenkollen medal is Norwegian skiing's highest award for competitors. It signifies top placings in international championships and other international events, including the Holmenkollen events....

. Her last title was a bronze at the 1998 Winter Olympics
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

 in the 4 x 5 km.

After retiring, Di Centa worked for Italian television (RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

), and became a member of the Italian and International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

s.

Di Centa became the first Italian woman to climb Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...

 (with supplementary oxygen) in 2003.

Di Centa is the first Italian woman (and the 19th Italian) to compete at five Olympics, which she did from 1984 to 1998.

Her younger brother Giorgio
Giorgio Di Centa
Giorgio Di Centa is an Italian cross country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race...

 is currently a member of the Italian national cross country ski team and was the winner of two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

.

2006 Winter Olympics

As a member of the International Olympic Committee and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and as one of Italy's most accomplished Winter Olympic athletes, Di Centa played a prominent public role in the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

 in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

. She was one of the eight flag bearers during the Opening Ceremonies
2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics was held on February 10, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy....

. At the Closing Ceremonies
2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony
The Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics took place on February 26, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy.-Program:...

, she participated in the awarding of medals to the winners of the men's 50 km cross-country race. Coincidentally, the gold medal winner was her younger brother Giorgio Di Centa
Giorgio Di Centa
Giorgio Di Centa is an Italian cross country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race...

.

Politics

Manuela Di Centa, who has been vice-president of the National Council of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) until 2006, is also involved in politics and is a member of the Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...

 for Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....

.

External links

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