ITALY: Olympic gold medal contender Giorgio Rocca hopes his success will fuel enthusiasm for Alpine Skiing.

Record ID: 332002

  • Title: ITALY: Olympic gold medal contender Giorgio Rocca hopes his success will fuel enthusiasm for Alpine Skiing.
  • Date: 14th February 2006
  • Summary: TONALE, ITALY (FILE - NOVEMBER 2005) (REUTERS) ROCCA TRAINING
  • Embargoed: 1st March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA45GUH6FMIL93BKUTNNNW4R4RN
  • Story Text: Italians will be cheering for a second gold medal on Tuesday (February 14) when Giorgio Rocca takes to the slopes for the Alpine Skiing combined event.
    Rocca who won the bronze medal in 2005 at the World Championships is seen as a strong favourite for Tuesday's race.
    He was also the leader in this year's slalom world cup competition making him one of the names to watch in the combined event, which involves a shortened downhill run and two slalom runs.
    Having won the first five slalom events of the season, the 30-year-old is confident that the combined event is very much in his favour. Rocca has also had the advantage of training on the slopes more than the athletes from abroad.
    "I had a good preparation and the fact of having tried the pistes in Italy was very important, because we all had the chance to train a lot and this is the big advantage that all the Italian skiers will enjoy," he said.
    Rocca, who enjoys great support from Italy's greatest skiing legend Alberto Tomba, says he hopes his success can fuel the kind of public enthusiasm for skiing that existed in Tomba's days.
    "The Italian press has given me a lot of coverage and this is probably precisely what I have worked for my entire career. I have also always wanted to encourage the public to have more passion for this sport, which with (Alberto) Tomba became the most important sport for the winter, together with football, and there was never anyone like him (Tomba) afterwards. Therefore it would be great to be able to once again awaken the passion, especially within children and little ones as well as within those who are fans of this sport in general," Rocca explained.
    Rocca has been criticised in the past for failing under pressure. With his recent successes the Italian media have not been able to shift their attention away from the Italian star, but Rocca says that this time he is coping well with the pressure and has been able to focus on his preparations for Turin 2006.
    "I am a lot more calm as a result of my experience and in this career it is very important to have experience. I am very serene and calm and at the end of the day I will be happy no matter how it goes," Rocca said.
    The combined event takes place on Tuesday, with the technical disciplines like the Giant Slalom starting in the mountain venue of Sestriere on February 20. Rocca, Austrians Benjamin Raich and Rainer Schoenfelder are among the favourites.
    Rocca is also a big favourite for the closing individual slalom on February 25.
    The Italian Winter Sports Federation confirmed there was a training piste in Bielmonte, north east of Turin in the province of Biella, which their skiers would use before the slalom.
    But a spokesman said Rocca was preparing with everyone else in Sestriere for the combined.
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