Athlete profile: Stefania Belmondo

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

With five Olympic medals and a silver sweep at last year's World Championships, Belmondo has come a long way since her first-ever cross-country race at the age of eight..."No, no, I was not very good at the beginning," says Belmondo. "I finished in last place in my first race. But I was not in skiing just to win, but to play and have fun"...of course, of the many that have finished last in a youth race, few have become Olympic champions...Belmondo credits her parents for not forcing her into the sport -- "My parents never pushed me, that's why I continued," she says. "I see the experience of children who are pushed by their parents and it's not good"...it has been all good for Belmondo who, in spite of aggravating injuries to the big toe on each foot, has placed no lower than eighth in the overall World Cup standings since 1989...all of this from a wisp of a woman who looks like she belongs in gymnastics..."Stefania always says ‘Non ti scordar di Me,' which means ‘Don't you forget about me,'" says Italian head cross-country coach Alessandro Vanoi. "She says that because she's always small and smiling"...in 1991, the magazine Ski Français anointed Belmondo la petite merveille -- "the little marvel" -- and Belmondo has lived up to the hype...in her second Olympic Games at Albertville, just a five-hour ride from her hometown of Vinadio, she became the first Italian woman ever to win a cross-country medal...in addition to her silver in the Pursuit and gold in the 30km freestyle, Belmondo anchored Italy to a bronze in the relay..."I was very happy when I won the medals," says Belmondo. "It was like a dream come true. The best race was the 30km -- it was a very pretty day, the sunshine was marvelous, and I won the gold. For me and my family, our lives changed a little. Everyone began to recognize us"...at the time, Belmondo lived in a tiny hamlet called Ponte Bernardo, population 18 -- "It's like New York," jokes Belmondo...Ponte Bernardo is only 15 km from her hometown of Vinadio, where she returned after she was married three years ago...in comparison, Vinadio is a sprawling metropolis, with a population of 500...her personality mirrors her locales of residences perfectly -- modest and tranquil...much in contrast to her more gregarious and cosmopolitan teammate and rival Manuela Di Centa, who won two golds, two silvers, and a relay bronze in Lillehammer, the Italian coaches have labeled Belmondo "The Queen of Modesty"..."Sometimes she's too modest," says Vanoi. "When she wins, she often says it's because the others didn't do so well. If she wins, she should show it. But in opposite, when the men lose, they say, ‘It was my skis' or something else. Stefania never has an excuse"...Belmondo and Di Centa have long been the two stalwarts of the Italian women's team and Di Centa, at least, has hinted at friction before...Vanoi frankly says, "Di Centa is a lot more popular than Belmondo. She (Di Centa) has a great personality and everyone always wants to talk about her. She's like Tomba (Italian alpine superstar Alberto Tomba) in alpine"...four years ago in Lillehammer, though Belmondo won two bronze medals -- in the Pursuit and the relay -- her accomplishments were overshadowed by the media frenzy surrounding Di Centa...Belmondo was hampered by a painful foot injury, and the cold of Norway helped little...she had the big toe on her right foot operated twice in the months leading up to the '94 Games...she missed three months of training after the first surgery, in May 1993, and still required a second operation in September..."I had a lot of problems with that foot that year," says Belmondo...the injury has never completely healed and may have, in part, contributed to a post-Olympic slump -- 1995 and 1996 were her worst seasons in over five years...her coach, though, believes that it was a lessened desire to win, not the injury, that brought about Belmondo's woes..."The first time you win is the best time," explains Vanoi. "The second, third, and all are not the same. It's like your first love. You will always remember that even after you have the second and third love"...Belmondo, though, was dramatically rejuvenated for the 1996-97 World Cup season, including the 1997 World Championships...she finished second at all four individual events to Russia's Yelena Vaelbe, including a photo-finish in the Pursuit...in that race, Belmondo went ahead at the start and led most of the race..."I was very sad because I was sure that I had won," says Belmondo of her emotions immediately after the pictures were developed. "Thinking back, I should have stayed behind Vaelbe and tried to go out in the last two or three hundred meters. But out in the tracks I believed that it will be best if I were in the lead before coming to the last downhill prior to the finishing line"...she admits that she usually prefers to play follow-the-leader -- "I like to pursue others because it's a much easier way to ski"...according to Vanoi, Belmondo's resurgence can be attributed to what he calls "good shape psychologically"..."When you are satisfied, you do better," explains Vanoi. "She is married now so this part of her life is complete. It's so much easier when the athlete just has to think about their training, and not have to research for a boyfriend and all"...in what will be her final Olympic Games, Belmondo, arguably the best freestyle skier in the world, will have the chance to duplicate her lone Olympic gold as her favorite Events, the 30km skate, will be contested at Nagano...Vanoi also notes that, "Stefania has improved her classical technique so much. She can now ski that much better than in Lillehammer"...Belmondo is concerned about the steep nature of Hakuba's Snow Harp course -- "The uphill sections are very tough and the descents are steep," she says. "If they are icy it could be like skiing a real downhill"...but another foot injury, this time a fracture of the big toe on her left foot, sustained when she fell in training last May, threatens to put a crimp in her medal hopes..."I continue to feel the pain," says Belmondo. "I just keep my foot supported, I don't take medicine or anything"...Belmondo, who plans to retire in two years, started skiing when she was four years old..."In my village, it was the only thing to do," says Stefania who skied the mile from home to school whenever school covered the ground. "There were no opportunities for alpine skiing"...she did not become serious in training until what she characterizes as "a very late age -- 16 or 17. Then only I started skiing well and winning"...her father is a retired factory worker while her mother is a homemaker...Stefania has an older sister and a younger brother, both of whom did recreational alpine skiing...she grew up on Via Franchia (France Road) in a part of Italy 10 miles from the border with the French region of Provence...after the Albertville Games, a neighbor had printed, "This is a street with gold, silver, and bronze," on Via Franchia..."We speak a dialect called ‘Provincial' because it's a mixture of Italian and French from Provence," she says...Belmondo speaks French with a charming Italian accent...she also knows Catalan (spoken in the Spanish region of Catalonia) and a little bit of German, but no English...