ITALY: Champagne flows in Italian alps to celebrate French daredevil and downhill champion Antoine Deneriaz.

Record ID: 331927

  • Title: ITALY: Champagne flows in Italian alps to celebrate French daredevil and downhill champion Antoine Deneriaz.
  • Date: 15th February 2006
  • Summary: SESTRIERE, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 2006) (REUTERS) ANTOINE DENERIAZ, OLYMPIC DOWNHILL GOLD MEDAL WINNER, ARRIVING TO MEET THE FRENCH MINISTER FOR SPORTS JEAN-FRANCOIS LAMOUR -- HIMSELF A DOUBLE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST DENERIAZ LISTENING TO SPEAKER GOLD MEDAL IN DENERIAZ'S HAND DENIRIAZ PUTTING TRADITIONAL BERET ON MINISTER LAMOUR'S HEAD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CHEERING AS THEY WATCH THE EVENING NEWS AND A REPLAY OF DENERIAZ'S DOWNHILL WIN LUC ALPHAND, FORMER DOWNHILL CHAMPION AND OLYMPIAN, TALKING TO WORLD RECORD HURDLE CHAMPION COLIN JACKSON PEOPLE WATCHING THE SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (French) LUC ALPHAND, FORMER OLYMPIC DOWNHILL SKIER, SAYING: "Antoine was the strongest and it's beautiful, it's really beautiful, because he's just come back from an injury. We knew he was a really good downhiller. He has won races before, but it's always difficult to programme an Olympic rendezvous because its every four years, it's a one day course and all that is complicated. But for three weeks he has been really focussed and I applaud him because it's really big what he's done today" DENIRIAZ'S COUSIN IN THE CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (French) ALPHAND SAYING: "Well I think he's up on his cloud now and he needs to come down a bit and after that he has to taste and savour it because when you are an athlete you really need to savour moments like these" VARIOUS OF DENERIAZ ON THE TELEPHONE TALKING ABOUT HIS DOWNHILL RACE DENIRIAZ WITH HIS MEDAL POSING BEFORE CELEBRATORY DINNER
  • Embargoed: 2nd March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA18R3DWNCVOPD0SEPDMG5IBSIC
  • Story Text: French Olympic downhill gold medal winner Antoine Deneriaz finally touched down to a huge celebration in the Club France in Sestriere on Sunday (February 12).
    He was welcomed by the French Minister for Sports Jean-Francois Lamour, himself a fencing champion.
    After showing off his medal, Deneriaz was presented with a beret typical of his home town of Morillon, in Haute Savoie. And he promptly put it on the minister's head.
    France was clearly proud of a man from modest beginnings who won one of the most glorious races in any athlete's career.
    Deneriaz has won three World Cup downhill events, in 2003 and 2004, but has only just recovered from a severe knee injury and his victory on the slopes at Sestriere came in the first Alpine skiing event of the Turin Games and the showpiece event of the Winter Olympics.
    The 29-year-old was continuing a tradition of the Olympic downhill producing a surprise winner. He snatched victory from Austrian favourite, and World Cup downhill leader, Michael Walchhofer by 0.72 seconds, forced Switzerland's Bruno Kernen into bronze position and pushed Norwegian Kjetil Andre Aamodt out of the medals.
    World champion Bode Miller of the U.S. was fifth just ahead of Austria's Hermann Maier.
    Former French downhill champion Luc Alphand praised Deneriaz's performance.
    Recently returned from winning the Dakar rally, Alphand said Deneriaz knocked the favourites off the list on a difficult piste, adding that he was not as surprised as other commentators.
    "Antoine was the strongest and it's beautiful, it's really beautiful, because he's just come back from an injury," said Alphand.
    "We knew he was a really good downhiller. He has won races before, but it's always difficult to programme an Olympic rendezvous because it's every four years, it's a one day course and all that is complicated. But for three weeks he has been really focused and I applaud him because it's really big what he's done today."
    Alphand added: "Well I think he's up on his cloud now and he needs to come down a bit and after that he has to taste and savour it because when you are an athlete you really need to savour moments like these."
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