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Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET
Athlete notes You never finish learning. There is new snow, and the snow is always changing. You always have to learn about the snow -- Fulvio Valbusa | |||||||||||||||||||||
Athlete notes
With his meticulous nature, it is little wonder why Valbusa has joined the ranks of cross-country skiing's elite over the past two World Cup seasons...though he competed at both the Albertville and Lillehammer Games, Valbusa was a solid but unspectacular skier until the 1995-96 World Cup season...since then, he has finished on the podium at a World Cup Events six times, and finished sixth and third overall each of the last two seasons, respectively, in the overall World Cup standings...though he has still not won a World Cup race, Valbusa is pleased with his progress..."The biggest step is with my mind," says Valbusa. "After Lillehammer, I understood what I could do in my sporting life. The real important thing was to put my head in order, to concentrate on my family. I am now married and have a baby. When the mind is good, everything is better"...though he finished no higher than fifth in an individual Events at last year's World Championships in Trondheim, Norway. Valbusa took a line from Vanessa Williams and saved the best for last...he skied the anchor leg in the relay and nipped Russian Aleksei Prokurorov to clinch the bronze medal for his country, its second consecutive bronze at the World Championships..."Last year, I wanted the medal a lot," says Valbusa. "I won the medal with my heart. I prefer the relay because I can enjoy the medal with someone else"...Valbusa hopes to translate his improvement into more top finishes..."Last year he started too fast," says Italian head coach Alessandro Vanoi. "He took podiums at the beginning but tailed off. We meant for him to peak at Worlds but it is a trial and error process. This year he is doing much better at endurance training and we will hope that he is in the right shape for the Olympics"...in discussing Valbusa's strengths as a skier, Vanoi mentions that, "He has a very good frequency of his arms and legs and a very good mentality. He never wants to stop"...Valbusa was previously a stronger skater than classical skier but, according to Vanoi, "Now he can be in the same level in both classical and freestyle"...Valbusa's persona is much in contrast to Silvio Fauner, who may have to relinquish his claim as Italy's top cross-country skier after hurting his shoulder in a mountain bike accident last October..."They are really very different," says Vanoi. "Fauner was born strong. He has the body for competing, and he has not had too work so hard. Valbusa has had to work much harder. But he has the mentality for fighting more than Silvio. Valbusa is more competitive, but Silvio has more natural talent. But Valbusa understands that Fauner is the number one (in the public's eyes), that he (Fauner) is more popular now"...Valbusa did alpine skiing from the age of seven, but changed to cross-country when he was 13 because, "All of my friends at school were doing cross-country," he says...he joined the senior national cross-country team in 1988...his wife, Selena, competed on a provincial alpine ski team but is now studying Italian...they have an 18-month-old daughter, Alice (ah-LEE-chay)...Fulvio is the second-youngest of five children...the youngest child, his sister Sabina, is a member of the Italy's women's cross-country team...his father, a lumberjack, passed away 10 years ago..."I have to thank him," says Valbusa. "He was my first supporter. I think he is watching my life from somewhere"...his mother is a homemaker...Fulvio studied French in school but cannot speak it...he knows a few English words...his birthday, February 15, is a day off on the cross-country Olympic schedule...
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