Italy national bobsleigh team

ItalyAssociation| Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali

|

Team colors|
Olympics
Appearances| 22 (first in 1924)
Medals|  Gold: 4
Silver: 4
Bronze: 4

Italy national bobsleigh team is the selection that represents Italy in international bobsleigh competitions.

The Italian bobsleigh's body is traditionally painted with the rosso corsa, the international auto racing colour informally assigned to Italy.

## History

[edit]

Two-men bobsleigh of the Italian Air Force national team

The sport of bobsleigh began to spread in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century, especially in Trentino and Veneto, where Federico Terschak introduced it in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In 1922, the first Italian bobsleigh championship was organised along the road of Falzarego Pass, while the following year Raffaele Zardini built the bobsleigh track in Ronco.[1]

The Italian bobsleigh team debuted at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix with the five-man bobsleigh.[2]

In 1925 the Bob Club of Italy was founded, which the following year established the Italian Ice Sports Federation (Federazione italiana sport del ghiaccio, FISG), which also included the Italian Skating Federation (Federazione italiana di pattinaggio) and the Italian Ice Hockey Federation (Federazione italiana di hockey sul ghiaccio).[1]

At the 1930 World Bobsleigh Championships in Caux-sur-Montreux, first edition of the event organised by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, the Italian national bobsleigh team won the gold medal with the four-man bobsleigh team of Franco Zaninetta, Giorgio Biasini, Antonio Dorini and Gino Rossi.[1]

In 1933 the FISG was incorporated into the Italian Winter Sports Federation (Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali, FISI); in the same year the Mottarone bobsleigh track was built on the initiative of Luigi Tornielli, in view of the World University Championships.[1]

Italy-2 team at 4-man event in Cortina 1956 (silver medal)

After World War II, the Italian Winter Sports Federation turned to the Italian Air Force to look for future Italian bobsleighers among fighter pilots, imitating the US strategy: after a special course, Marshal Lamberto Dalla Costa and Major Giacomo Conti were chosen and took part in the FIBT World Championships 1953 in Garmisch. The debut of Eugenio Monti, known as the "Flying Red" (Rosso volante), who dominated the world bobsleigh scene in the 1950s and 1960s, dates back to these years. The first Italian successes were achieved at home at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where, thanks to their excellent knowledge of the Olympic track and the innovative Podar bobsleighs, the Italian national team won the gold and silver medals in the two-man bobsleigh and the silver in the four-man bobsleigh.[3][2]

Italian Army bobsleigh in Cervinia (1974)

After the extraordinary olympic success at Cortina, and the subsequent opening of the Blue Lake bobsleigh run in Cervinia in 1963, the Italian Air Force became increasingly interested in the sport and its acceleration on bends, which was useful for training its pilots. A 'bobsleigh school' was opened, renamed in 1965 as the 'Armed Forces Bobsleigh School', to train pilots, interiors and brakemen.[4] In 1973, Italy's national military team was formed, which took part in the first edition of Military World Bobsleigh Championships in Cervinia.

After a break of more than 30 years, the Air Force Sports Centre resumed winter sports activities in 2012 so that its athletes could take part in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[5]

## Participation in the Winter Olympics

[edit]

Italian two-man bobsleigh (2014)

The Italian national bobsleigh team has always taken part in at least one discipline at every Winter Olympics (except at Squaw Valley in 1960, when the organising committee did not organise any bobsleight competitions for economic reasons), winning a total of 12 Olympic medals.[2]

Italian women made their debut with the two-woman bobsleigh at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, while in Turin 2006 they won their first and so far only medal.[2]

The largest number of Olympic medals (six) was won by Eugenio Monti,[2] known as the Rosso volante ('Flying Red'), in whose memory the Olympic track in Cortina d'Ampezzo was named.

### Men's four-man bobsleigh

[edit]

Year  | City  | Results  | Team

|
|
|

1924  | Chamonix  | 6
NQ  | Lodovico Obexer, Massimo Fink, Paolo Herbert, Giuseppe Steiner, Luis Trenker
Luigi Tornielli di Borgolavezzaro, Adolfo Bocchi, Leonardo Bonzi, Alfredo Spasciani, Alberto Visconti
1928  | St. Moritz  | 21  | Giancarlo Morpugo, Carlo Sem, Luigi Cerutti, Giuseppe Crivelli, Piero Marchetti
1932  | Lake Placid  | 5  | Theo Rossi Di Montelera, Agostino Lanfranchi, Gaetano Lanfranchi, Italo Cassini
1936  | Garmisch-Partenkirchen  | 10
NQ  | Tonino Brivio Sforza, Carlo Solveni, Emilio Dell'Oro, Raffaele Menardi
Francesco De Zanna, Ernesto Franceschi, Uberto Gillarduzzi, Amedeo Angeli
1948  | St. Moritz  | 6
11  | Nino Bibbia, Gian Carlo Ronchetti, Edilberto Campadese, Luigi Cavalieri
Nino Rovelli, Enrico Airoldi, Vittorio Folonari, Remo Airoldi
1952  | Oslo  | 10
14  | Dario Colombi, Dario Poggi, Sandro Rasini, Alberto Della Beffa
Uberto Gillarduzzi, Michele Alverà, Vittorio Folonari, Luigi Cavalieri
1956  | Cortina d'Ampezzo  | 2
5  | Eugenio Monti, Ulrico Girardi, Renzo Alverà, Renato Mocellini
Dino De Martin, Giovanni De Martin, Giovanni Tabacchi, Carlo Da Prà
1964  | Innsbruk  | 3
4  | Eugenio Monti, Sergio Siorpaes, Benito Rigoni, Gildo Siorpaes
Sergio Zardini, Sergio Mocellini, Ferruccio Dalla Torre, Romano Bonagura
1968  | Grenoble  | 1
6  | Eugenio Monti, Luciano De Paolis, Roberto Zandonella, Mario Armano
Gianfranco Gaspari, Giuseppe Rescigno, Andrea Clemente, Leonardo Cavallini
1972  | Sapporo  | 2
8  | Nevio De Zordo, Adriano Frassinelli, Corrado Dal Fabbro, Gianni Bonichon
Gianfranco Gaspari, Roberto Zandonella, Mario Armano, Luciano De Paolis
1976  | Innsbruck  | 11
12  | Nevio De Zordo, Ezio Fiori, Roberto Porzia, Lino Benoni
Giorgio Alverà, Piero Vegnuti, Adriano Bee, Francesco Butteri
1980  | Lake Placid  | 11  | Andrea Jory, Edmund Lanziner, Georg Werth, Giovanni Modena
1984  | Sarajevo  | 8
17  | Guerrino Ghedina, Stefano Ticci, Paolo Scaramuzza, Andrea Meneghin
Alex Wolf, Georg Beikircher, Pasquale Gesuito, Umberto Prato
1988  | Calgary  | 10
19  | Alex Wolf, Pasquale Gesuito, Georg Beikircher, Stefano Ticci
Roberto D'Amico, Thomas Rottensteiner, Paolo Scaramuzza, Andrea Meneghin
1992  | Albertville  | 12
15  | Pasquale Gesuito, Antonio Tartaglia, Paolo Canedi, Stefano Ticci
Günther Huber, Marco Andreatta, Thomas Rottensteiner, Marcantonio Stiffi
1994  | Lillehammer  | 9
22  | Günter Huber, Antonio Tartaglia, Bernhard Mair, Mirco Ruggiero, Stefano Ticci
Pasquale Gesuito, Paolo Canedi, Silvio Calcagno, Marcantonio Stiffi
1998  | Nagano  | 14
20  | Günther Huber, Antonio Tartaglia, Massimiliano Rota, Marco Menchini
Fabrizio Tosini, Andrea Pais de Libera, Enrico Costa, Sergio Chianella
2002  | Nagano  | 19  | Fabrizio Tosini, Andrea Pais de Libera, Massimiliano Rota, Giona Cividino
2006  | Turin  | 11
12  | Fabrizio Tosini, Luca Ottolino, Antonio De Sanctis, Giorgio Morbidelli
Simone Bertazzo, Samuele Romanini, Matteo Torchio, Omar Sacco
2010  | Vancouver  | 9T  | Simone Bertazzo, Danilo Santarsiero, Samuele Romanini, Mirko Turri
2014  | Sochi  | 18  | Simone Bertazzo, Simone Fontana, Samuele Romanini, Francesco Costa
2018  | Pyeongchang  | 27  | Simone Bertazzo, Simone Fontana, Francesco Costa, Lorenzo Bilotti
2022  | Beijing  | 15
27  | Patrick Baumgartner, Lorenzo Bilotti, Eric Fantazzini, Alex Verginer
Robert Gino Mircea, José Delmas Obou, Alex Pagnini, Mattia Variola

### Men's two-man bobsleigh

[edit]

Year  | City  | Results  | Team

|
|
|

1932  | Lake Placid  | 6
8  | Theo Rossi Di Montelera, Italo Cassini
Agostino Lanfranchi, Gaetano Lanfranchi
1936  | Garmisch-Partenkirchen  | 11
12  | Edgardo Vaghi, Dario Poggi
Tonino Brivio Sforza, Carlo Solveni
1948  | St. Moritz  | 6
8  | Mario Vitali, Dario Poggi
Nino Bibbia, Edilberto Campadese
1952  | Oslo  | 10
12  | Alberto Della Beffa, Dario Colombi
Uberto Gillarduzzi, Luigi Cavalieri
1956  | Cortina d'Ampezzo  | 1
2  | Lamberto Dalla Costa, Giacomo Conti
Eugenio Monti, Renzo Alverà
1964  | Innsbruck  | 2
3  | Sergio Zardini, Romano Bonagura
Eugenio Monti, Sergio Siorpaes
1968  | Grenoble  | 1
12  | Eugenio Monti, Luciano De Paolis
Rinaldo Ruatti, Sergio Mocellini
1972  | Sapporo  | 4
10  | Gianfranco Gaspari, Mario Armano
Enzo Vicario, Corrado Dal Fabbro
1976  | Innsbruck  | 8
16  | Giorgio Alverà, Franco Perruquet
Nevio De Zordo, Ezio Fiori
1980  | Lake Placid  | 14
16  | Andrea Jory, Edmund Lanziner
Giuseppe Soravia, Georg Werth
1984  | Sarajevo  | 7
9  | Guerrino Ghedina, Andrea Meneghin
Marco Bellodis, Stefano Ticci
1988  | Calgary  | 17
19  | Alex Wolf, Georg Beikircher
Ivo Ferriani, Stefano Ticci
1992  | Albertville  | 5
12  | Günther Huber, Stefano Ticci
Pasquale Gesuito, Antonio Tartaglia
1994  | Lillehammer  | 3
9  | Günther Huber, Stefano Ticci
Pasquale Gesuito, Antonio Tartaglia
1998  | Nagano  | 1T
14  | Günther Huber, Antonio Tartaglia
Fabrizio Tosini, Enrico Costa
2002  | Salt Lake City  | 8
11T  | Günther Huber, Antonio Tartaglia
Cristian La Grassa, Fabrizio Tosini
2006  | Turin  | 9
13  | Simone Bertazzo, Matteo Torchio
Samuele Romanini, Fabrizio Tosini
2010  | Vancouver  | 17
AC  | Fabrizio Tosini, Sergio Riva
Simone Bertazzo, Samuele Romanini
2014  | Sochi  | 14  | Simone Bertazzo, Simone Fontana
2018  | Pyeongchang  | Not attending
2022  | Pechino  | 21  | Patrick Baumgartner, Robert Gino Mircea

### Women's two-woman bobsleigh

[edit]

Year  | City  | Results  | Team

|
|
|

2002  | Salt Lake City  | 7  | Gerda Weissensteiner, Antonella Bellutti
2006  | Turin  | 3
12  | Gerda Weissensteiner, Jennifer Isacco
Jessica Gillarduzzi, Fabiana Mollica
2010  | Vancouver  | 13  | Jessica Gillarduzzi, Laura Curione
2014  | Sochi  | not attending
2018  | Pyeongchang  | not attending
2022  | Beijing  | not attending

### Women's monobob

[edit]

Year  | City  | Results  | Team

|
|
|

2022  | Beijing  | 15  | Giada Andreutti

### Olympic medals

[edit]

Bobsleigh| Gold| Silver| Bronze| Total

|
|
|
|

2-man| 3| 2| 2| 7
4-man| 1| 2| 1| 4
2-woman| 0| 0| 1| 1
Totals (3 entries)| 4| 4| 4| 12

### Olympic medalists

[edit]

Eugenio Monti, the 'Flying Red', won 6 olympic medals. Bobsledder  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze  | Total

|
|
|
|

Eugenio Monti | 2  | 2  | 2  | 6
Luciano De Paolis | 2  | 0  | 0  | 2
Günther Huber | 1  | 0  | 1  | 2
Mario Armano | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1
Giacomo Conti | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1
Lamberto Dalla Costa | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1
Antonio Tartaglia | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1
Roberto Zandonella | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1
Renzo Alverà | 0  | 2  | 0  | 2
Romano Bonagura | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Gianni Bonichon | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Corrado Dal Fabbro | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Nevio De Zordo | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Adriano Frassinelli | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Ulrico Girardi | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Renato Mocellini | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Sergio Zardini | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1
Sergio Siorpaes | 0  | 0  | 2  | 2
Jennifer Isacco | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
Benito Rigoni | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
Gildo Siorpaes | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
Stefano Ticci | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1
Gerda Weissensteiner | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1

## See also

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Italian national bobsleigh team.

* Italy portal
* Olympics portal

* Italy at the Olympics
* Rosso corsa
* Eugenio Monti olympic track
* Cesana Pariol

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d (Carrera).
2. ^ a b c d e "Italy national bobsleigh team". Olympedia.org. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
3. ^ Di Massimo Brignolo (3 January 2014). "La battaglia di Cortina viene vinta dall'Aeronautica". Olympia Lab.
4. ^ "Bob a due e a quattro". Associazione Nazionale Arditi Incursori Marina.
5. ^ "Sport invernali". Aeronautica Militare Italiana.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Rodolfo Carrera. "Bob". Enciclopedia dello sport. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.
* "Italy national bobsleigh team". Olympedia.org. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
* Stefano Rotta (2010). Rosso ghiaccio: Eugenio Monti, dietro la leggenda. Arezzo: Limena. ISBN 978-88-6041-044-3.

## External links

[edit]

* "Bob". Federazione italiana sport invernali.
* "Profilo dell'Italia".

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