Athlete profile: Manuela Di Centa

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

Athlete notes

A pioneer in Italian women's athletics, Di Centa has decided to make one last stand after winning a medal in every Events in Lillehammer...on December 10, only three days before the first individual competition of the women's 1997-98 World Cup cross-country schedule, in Val di Femme, Italy, Di Centa announced that she would return to compete this season and thus, at least attempt to defend her medals from Lillehammer...much of Di Centa's decision to return hinged on her physical condition...she is afflicted with a condition resulting from a non-functioning thyroid gland, which in its normal state, produces the hormone thyroxin...thyroxin regulates growth and metabolism in the body, and is required for a human to produce and maintain energy...for much of the 1992 season, Di Centa was overwhelmed by weariness but could not isolate the source of her fatigue...she consulted physicians after the Albertville Olympics and was prescribed a drug which stimulates the production of thyroxin, and therefore, substitutes for the activity of the thyroid gland...she must take the medication every day for the rest of her life just to maintain normal bodily function...the results of the diagnosis and treatment are startling -- since she began training again in December 1992, she has accumulated eight top-five finishes in the World Championships, two overall World Cup titles, and, of course, the five Olympic medals in '94...last year was Di Centa's worst in recent memory and Italian journalist Pierangelo Molinaro of La Gazzetta della Sport attributes most of the dropoff to a recurrence in her medical problems..."She broke the first finger on her right hand early in the season when she fell in training," says Molinaro. "But, you know the body problems she had with thyroxin, that came back last year and it was difficult for her. She also had surgery on her intestines in 1995 and returned just before the World Championships in Thunder Bay. (This time) she thought about whether it was time to stop but said she will not decide until just before the season starts"...according to Molinaro, Di Centa's decision to return means she believes she is capable of challenging for medals once again in Nagano..."I know Manuela well and she will only compete if she is good," says Molinaro. "She had a good training this summer in Stelvio and I talked to her trainer Benito Moriconi. He said she is in a good condition"...regardless of her performance this season, Di Centa will best be remembered for her opening of cross-country skiing competition to women in Italy, her Lillehammer quintet, and her ability to grab headlines for her activities away from the snow, much in the manner of superstar compatriot Alberto Tomba...when Di Centa started skiing internationally in 1980, there was no Italian women's team..."I didn't believe I was good," said Di Centa. "I didn't know what level I could achieve. No one paid attention to me. I just kept skiing and wasn't taught"...in 1984, after the Sarajevo Olympics, Di Centa became embroiled in a fierce controversy with then-Italian Ski Federation president Amerigo Gattai..."I believe first in the person, second in the athlete," Di Centa explained. "There was a lot of doping in the federation. I didn't accept that so I quit the team"...in 1987, the federation leadership changed as Carlo Valentino became the new president...after meeting with Valentino, Di Centa felt "what he said was sincere. And he gives us women the same possibilities as men"...Di Centa's efforts have earned her a tremendous level of respect among Italian athletes, who selected her as chairperson of the athletes' commission on the Italian Olympic Committee...she will become a voting member as of next year...Di Centa hopes, though, that her success can somehow be translated into a better status for all women in Italy..."When I won my (first) Olympic medal, a lot of young girls wrote letters," says Di Centa. "They were not just sports girls, but normal girls. They were happy to see a girl who was so good, be so nice, and not like a man. It is the norm in our society that the top of every organization is only men. Now, women are in different sectors. In sport, women are more representative than in other jobs. I think my victoires touch many women"...Di Centa's mailbox was even more full after Lillehammer, and it is not just women who have come calling at her door...her five medals raised her stature and reputation to rival that of Tomba, who has five medals over three Olympic Games..."Manuela is like Alberto Tomba in alpine," says Italian head cross-country coach Alessandro Vanoi. "She has a great personality, she has a lot of men (akin to Tomba and his reputation with women), and everyone wants to talk about her. She is a lot more popular than (Stefania) Belmondo," referring to Italy's current top cross-country woman, with whom Di Centa has had a less than cordial relationship...according to Italian television journalist Gernot Mussner, "They are both like actresses, and everybody wants to be the best. After the races they always hug each other like they have to do obviously but that's unbelievable how they hate. The national papers wrote it too. They call it an open secret"...Di Centa herself has hinted at friction before, once stating, "I opened the door. It was easy for her. All she had to do was concentrate on skiing"...Di Centa's capped off the 1994 season with an overall World Cup title and earned a major celebration in her hometown of Paluzza..."There was a big party at the end of the season," says Molinaro. "She won the World Cup title that year too so they waited until the end of the season for the party (instead of immediately after the Olympics)"...Di Centa enjoys the spotlight, and also takes a particular interest in fashion...she spends a lot of time in Milan, arguably the world's fashion capital, and has designed cross-country suits..."Cross-country is not just a heavy, masculine sport," says Di Centa. "It can be fashion and feminine"...her outfits were colorful and adorned with flowers because she believes "Women skiers are like flowers in the snow"...but Di Centa stopped "her passion" because of her thyroid problems, though she still wears her training outfits...Di Centa's troubles of last year have reduced her popularity somewhat among Italian sports fans, who apparently have very short memories of her 1996 World Cup win..."In Italy, it's only about who is winning," says Molinaro. "Now, (alpine racer) Deborah Compagnoni is winning so she is the most popular of the women"...Manuela's brother Giorgio, 24, is a member of Italy's men's cross-country team and could compete on the men's relay squad at Nagano...according to Vanoi, Manuela currently has a boyfriend with whom she is living...Di Centa speaks fluent English...