Italian · Bolzano, Italy · Born 20 March 1975Isolde Kostner is an Italian former alpine skier and three-time Olympic medallist who became the first Italian skier of either gender to win a World Cup downhill title.
Isolde Kostner wanted to play ice hockey like her father, but the Italian federation did not permit women to compete, so she took up skiing instead — and became the first Italian skier of either gender to win the World Cup downhill title. She originally wanted to follow her father into hockey, but the Italian federation's rules at the time did not permit women to play, so she switched to alpine skiing, winning Super-G gold at the World Junior Championships in 1993 before making her World Cup debut that same year. Kostner's rise was rapid: in her first full World Cup season in 1993-94, she won her first race — the downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen — and went on to win two bronze medals, in downhill and Super-G, at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics as a 19-year-old. She backed this up with back-to-back World Championship Super-G titles in 1996 and 1997, establishing herself as one of the finest speed skiers of her generation. In the 2000-01 season, Kostner became the first Italian skier of either gender to win the World Cup downhill discipline title, also adding a Super-G silver at that year's World Championships. She capped her Olympic career with a silver medal in the downhill at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, where she served as Italy's flag bearer, taking her Olympic medal tally to three. Kostner retired in early 2006, weeks before the Turin Winter Olympics, upon announcing her pregnancy with fellow Olympic skier Werner Perathoner, and made a memorable final public appearance extinguishing the Olympic flame in a wedding dress at the Turin closing ceremony.
First Italian skier of either gender to win a World Cup downhill discipline title
How They Played
Speed specialist excelling in downhill and Super-G with a smooth, technically efficient style
Lasting Impact
One of Italy's most successful female alpine skiers, remembered for a decorated career across three Olympic Games
Career Honours
- Olympic silver, downhill (2002)
- 2x Olympic bronze (1994, downhill and Super-G)
- 2x World Champion, Super-G (1996, 1997)
- First Italian to win the World Cup downhill discipline title (2000-01)
Italian Athletes