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.[1]

Piero Gros
Gros in 2014 at the age of 60.
Born30 October 1954 (1954-10-30) (age 68)
OccupationAlpine skier
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesTechnical events
ClubSci Club Sauze D'Oulx,
G.S. Fiamme Gialle
World Cup debut1973
Retired1982
Olympics
Teams2
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams5
Medals3 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons10
Wins12
Podiums35
Overall titles1
Discipline titles2
Medal record
International alpine ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 0
World Championships 1 1 1
Total 2 1 1
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Slalom 7 6 4
Giant 5 7 4
Combined 0 1 1
Total 12 14 9
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Innsbruck Slalom
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1978 Garmisch Slalom
Bronze medal – third place 1974 St. Moritz Giant slalom

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 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 for 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.[2] Gros retired from international competition following the 1982 season, at the age of 27.[1]

In 1985–1990 he was mayor of his native village of Sauze d'Oulx. In the meantime he worked as sport commentator for various television stations, including RAI, the Italian State Network. He held various executive positions at the 1997 World Championships in Sestriere and was involved with the 2006 Winter Olympics as head of the volunteers and deputy mayor of the Olympic Village in Sestriere. He carried the Olympic torch at the Opening Ceremony.[1]

His son Giorgio (b. 1981) is also a former alpine ski racer; he raced on the European Cup circuit until 2006 and competed in over twenty World Cup speed events.[3]

World Cup results

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
slalom
Super GDownhillCombined
1973181064not
run
not
awarded
197419141
197520422
1976212236
197722445not
awarded
197823849
197924476
19802529182411
198126288
1982275015

Season titles

SeasonDiscipline
1974Overall
Giant slalom

Individual races

  • 12 wins – (7 GS, 5 SL)
  • 35 podiums – (16 GS, 17, 2 K)
Season Date Location Discipline
197308 December 1972France Val d'Isère, FranceGiant slalom
17 December 1972Italy Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom
197417 December 1973Italy Sterzing, ItalySlalom
7 January 1974West Germany Berchtesgaden, West GermanyGiant slalom
13 January 1974France Morzine, FranceGiant slalom
3 March 1974Norway Voss, NorwaySlalom
9 March 1974Czechoslovakia Vysoké Tatry, CzechoslovakiaGiant slalom
19755 December 1974France Val d'Isère, FranceGiant slalom
18 December 1974Italy Madonna di Campiglio, ItalyGiant slalom
6 January 1975West Germany Garmisch, West GermanySlalom
13 January 1975Switzerland Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom
19 January 1975Austria Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom

References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Piero Gros". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. Piero Gros. ski-db.com
  3. FIS-ski.com – Giorgio Gros – accessed 20 March 2012

Sauze d'Oulx

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