Italians showered with gold

The heyday of Italian successes on the ski slopes. Between 1971 and 1975 the ‘azzurri’ swept away all competition. Gustav Thöni headed the list with two gold medals in the World Championships at St. Moritz as well as Gold and Silver in the Winter Olympics at Innsbruck and Sapporo. In the World Cup ski event at Berchtesgarden the first five places were won by the Italians Piero Gros, Gustav Thöni, Erwin Stricker, Helmut Schmalzl and Tino Pietrogiovanna. The podium occupied entirely by Italians! The Italian press titled this era as ‘Valanga Azzurra’ (Blue Avalanche).