.jpg) Compagnoni in March 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1970-06-04)4 June 1970 (age 55) Bormio, Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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
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Deborah CompagnoniGolden Collar of Sports Merit (born 4 June 1970) is an Italian formerAlpine skier who won three gold medals at the1992,1994, and1998 Winter Olympics.[1]
Compagnoni was born inBormio, northernLombardy, and skied with theG.S. Forestale club.[1]
She soon attracted attention for her great talent. Her career was always marked by major successes, but also by serious accidents.[2] 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'Isèredownhill. 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.[1]
Compagnoni won her first race in the World Cup in 1992. She also won the gold medal at theWinter Olympics of the same year, again in thesuper-G; however, while racing thegiant slalom one day later, she destroyed her left knee.[1]
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 theLillehammer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the giant slalom, a feat she repeated four years later inNagano. In 1998, she won also a silver medal in theSlalom, finishing second by only 0.06 seconds.[1]
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 theAlpine Skiing World Cup (13 giant slalom, two super-G, and one slalom), plus a giant slalom World Cup in 1997.[1]
Deborah Compagnoni is considered[by whom?] the best Italian female skier of all time, the equal of famous male champions likeGustav Thöni andAlberto Tomba. The World Cup skiing track in her nativeSanta Caterina Valfurva has been named after her.[citation needed]
At the2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony, she was one of the three lasttorch bearers, lighting the MilanOlympic cauldron alongsideAlberto Tomba.
She is married toAlessandro Benetton, and they have three children: Agnese, Tobias, and Luce; they live inPonzano Veneto, Italy.[3][4] They separated in 2021.[5] Her brother Jacopo Compagnoni, a fellow Alpine skier, died during anavalanche onMonte Sobretta on 16 December 2021, at the age of 40.[6]
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | Giant slalom |
| 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 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 | – | – | ||
These are Compagnoni's World Cup victories.[7]
| Season | Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92 | 26 January 1992 | Morzine | Super-G |
| 1992–93 | 7 March 1993 | Morzine | Super-G |
| 1993–94 | 5 December 1993 | Tignes | Giant slalom |
| 11 December 1993 | Veysonnaz | Giant slalom | |
| 5 January 1994 | Morzine | Giant slalom | |
| 1994–95 | 8 January 1995 | Haus im Ennstal | Giant slalom |
| 1995–96 | 2 March 1996 | Narvik | Giant slalom |
| 1996–97 | 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 | |
| 1997–98 | 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 |
CONI:Golden Collar of Sports MeritCollare d'Oro al Merito Sportivo - 1996[8]
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Final Olympic torchbearer Milano Cortina 2026 alongsideSofia Goggia andAlberto Tomba | Succeeded by TBD2028 |
| Preceded by | Final Winter Olympic torchbearer Milano Cortina 2026 alongsideSofia Goggia andAlberto Tomba | Succeeded by TBD2030 |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Italian Sportswoman of the Year 1996-1997-1998 | Succeeded by |
| Winter Olympics | ||
| Preceded by |  Flag bearer for Italy1994 Lillehammer | Succeeded by |
