Athlete profile: Deborah Compagnoni

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

Athlete notes

Compagnoni has endured a gruesome series of injuries and illnesses to become one of the great skiers in the sport's history...a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Compagnoni has required surgery on her knees four times, three times on the right one...the first time, in 1988, forced her to miss the Calgary Olympics...in 1990, she required surgery on her right knee again, performed this time by a French doctor in Lyon, whose scalpel she has now become accustomed to...the left knee became the next patient when, in a sound bite captured throughout the world, Compagnoni let out a scream of pain on the slopes of Meribel at the 1992 Olympics as she tore the anterior cruciate ligament on her first giant slalom run - one day after winning the Albertville Super G...all was well until 1995 when the French doctor nearly had to be the bearer of bad tidings..."I didn't have a ligament problem then, it was torn cartilage in my right knee," explains Compagnoni. "I was having the problem all summer but was hoping it would get better. In September, it was still feeling bad and I could no longer ski. I had the operation but he said if it didn't get better in two or three months, I might have to stop skiing. I tried to ski again in October but the knee was always bad so I stopped skiing for two months. I started again in January (1996) and I was winning"...Compagnoni healed so well that she won her first world championship title later that year, taking the giant slalom in Sierra Nevada, Spain...she has been injury-free since then and absolutely dominant...as of January 2, Compagnoni has put together a one year winning streak in the giant slalom...she has strung together eight consecutive World Cup and world championship giant slalom victories, not having lost since she finished second to teammate Sabina Panzanini on January 3, 1997...her winning streak has included a World Championship double as she took both the giant slalom and slalom in Sestrieres, in her home country of Italy...without diminishing any one of her many achievements, Compagnoni believes the world championship double is her most memorable moment..."All the medals are important," explains Compagnoni. "They are in different years, there have been different injuries. But the World Championships in Italy, it was important because the public was there for me, and especially because I won two (gold) medals. Everything was perfect for those two days. I was very focused mentally"...she capped off her brilliant season finishing atop the World Cup overall standings in the giant slalom, and third in the slalom...Compagnoni began the 1997-98 season in a blaze of glory, not just winning but destroying the competition at the first and second World Cup giant slalom races in Tignes in October and Park City in November...after defeating Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer in Park City by 2.4 seconds, Meissnitzer said, "I don't think she (Compagnoni) is catchable. She's skiing like a god. She has everything for a perfect skier in the technical side"...in reply to Meissnitzer's comment, Compagnoni said, "It's nice to get compliments from other skiers because they know how it is. But previously I was in the second and third (positions) and the ones in front of me seemed unbeatable"...one month later in Val d'Isère, on a piste that suits speed specialists, Compagnoni stretched her giant slalom victory parade to eight races, clipping Meissnitzer by one-tenth of a second but, in the process, she ended German superstar's Katja Seizinger's own streak of six straight World Cup wins...Compagnoni is somewhat wary of her success lasting through February..."I really don't know how long I can keep winning," she says. "Maybe it would be better to lose a World Cup and win at the Olympics. Before the world championships in Sierra Nevada (1996), Seizinger had a fine string of victories and she collapsed. Last year, (Sweden's) Pernilla Wiberg was very impressive before Sestrieres and she had a big failure. I hope the same will not happen to me. The Olympics are my season target. I am looking forward to a double, in slalom and giant slalom at Nagano"...she is most confident in the fact that she is not skiing as hard as she can..."Sometimes you know that you don't need to ski harder," explains Compagnoni. "You never want to ski at 100 percent. You want to keep a margin. Winning races has boosted my morale"...her competitors have reason for concern if she can ski even better...according to US women's head coach Herwig Demschar, it would be wise to go to Vegas and bet on Deborah..."She just might be the best giant slalomer we've ever seen," says Demschar admiringly. "She has great strength. She's probably the safest gold medal at the Olympics. Health is the only thing that can stop her; you never know with Deborah"...besides the knee problems, Compagnoni has overcome severe stomach problems that first afflicted her in 1990...she experienced acute abdominal pain in October 1990 and underwent emergency surgery because the end of her small intestine had twisted...she lost 13 pounds during the post-op period as a result of a month-long diet consisting of soup and rice...her diet continues to be regulated and she is careful with fruits, vegetables, and potatoes...while Compagnoni has diligently recuperated from every setback, her injuries have limited her skiing range...earlier in her career, Compagnoni was a Seizinger or Wiberg-like jack-of-all trades, even finishing fourth in a World Cup downhill at Val d'Isère in 1987...her knee injuries gradually reduced her pure speed and forced her to give up first the downhill and later, after the 1995 season, the Super G...while the knee injury that Compagnoni sustained in the Albertville giant slalom prEventsed her from properly celebrating her first Olympic gold, she was treated in style after her gold in the giant slalom at Lillehammer..."After all my medals there has been a big party but it was special after Lillehammer," says Compagnoni. "I was taken around the town on a horse-drawn sleigh and with the snow outside, it was so beautiful"...Compagnoni became permanently etched in the minds of the Italian public in the weeks leading up to as well as in the aftermath of the Albertville Olympic Games...the Italian press anointed Compagnoni, Tombagnoni, in reference to her male giant slalom and slalom counterpart...after her terrible knee injury, Italy's premier sports daily La Gazzetta Della Sport asked readers to fax or write letters to the newspaper wishing Deborah a good recovery..."We had over 17,000 responses," says Gazzetta writer Pierangelo Molinaro. "I know, since I had to drive all the messages up to Deborah"...Compagnoni is now undoubtedly the most popular female athlete in Italy and may even rival Tomba stardom..."In Italy," explains Molinaro, "popularity depends on results," referring to Deborah's winning streak and Tomba's struggles to open the 1997-98 season...while Compagnoni, unlike Tomba, does not garner as much attention for her activity away from the slopes -- though she did do a photo shoot in a swimsuit for a French magazine -- she does enjoy the spotlight of the Italian press and public..."Yes, I do like it," she admits. "There are times that I would prefer not to have the pressure but it's normal. Most of the journalists are proper and they don't interfere with my private life"...she spent a few days training with Tomba and his former personal coach Gustavo Theoni (now the Italian men's team coach) on a glacier in the Italian Alps several years ago..."He gave me some advice," she says of Tomba, "and especially told me that I should not forget about the slalom. But he didn't teach me everything. I knew how to ski before I met him"...Compagnoni has more respect for Theoni, whose men she trained with at times last summer..."I really admire Gustavo because I really like the way he behaves," says Compagnoni. "He is a great technician and he says what he wants to say in a few words"...now that Compagnoni has dropped the Super G and owns the giant slalom, she is looking to improve in the slalom..."I am not as comfortable in the slalom," explains Compagnoni, last year's world champion in the Events. "I was born a GS and Super G skier. I really need to do a lot in the slalom. I have to improve my technique. Also, for the race, I have to improve my mental approach. The slalom was my third Events after the giant slalom and Super G but now it's second"...the giant slalom has always been Compagnoni's best Events, taking advantage of her superior positioning skills, technique, and speed..."The discipline comes more naturally for me," she says in describing her predilection for the giant slalom. "I can ski more freely because there is more room between the gates"...although Compagnoni decision not to ski the Super G will likely cost her any chance of challenging Seizinger for a World Cup overall title, she has no regrets..."I used to enjoy the Super G," she explains. "Compared to the Super G, the slalom is quite boring and slow. But I would take too many risks in going back to the Super G, and now that I am having so much fun in GS"...Compagnoni has lived her entire life in the twin resort towns of Bormio and Santa Caterina, 10 miles apart...her mother runs a 30-room hotel in Santa Caterina and her aunt owns five of the 20 hotels in the town..."I would say half the town is named Compagnoni," jokes Deborah...her father was a serviceman for the Italian men's team from 1969 to 1971, during which time Theoni won two giant slalom World Cup titles...Theoni also won the gold in the giant slalom at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics...Deborah's older brother, Yuri, serves as her coach and travels with the team...her frequent visits to France for medical care have helped Deborah improve her French considerably...she also speaks German, by virtue of some time she spent in West Germany in the 1980s when she went to an art school there...she still loves to draw and paint on terra cotta, a hard, reddish-brown, unglazed earthenware usually used in pottery...she also enjoys traveling, roller-blading, and escaping the crowds by spending some quiet time alone in the woods...Deborah knows a few English words...