2006 Olympic Gold Medalist Georgio DiCenta: Old World, Old School
February 4, 2008

Canmore World Cup Coverage Special to CrossCountrySkier.com See the rest of our coverage

Interpreted from Italian and transcribed by Matt Muir

How old are you?
Thirty-five.

Where are you from?
Treppo Carnico, Italy. I’ve always lived in Treppo Carnico. I am married. I have four children, three daughters and a one year-old son. The son was born around the Japanese World Championships. The story is that after the medals in Torino, we were happy with three kids so we took some preventative measures. But destiny came our way and we had a son. Now, with three daughters and a son,  we’re really happy.

My family is very important to me and they are the most important part of my life. I have a wife who allows me to do this job. She’s at home with all the kids and she takes care of everything. That is her work and she loves it. The arrangement we have together, it is 100 percent support for each other, period.

How long have you been on the National Team?
Twenty years including the Junior Team.

How old were you when you started to ski?
I was six.

How old were you when you started to ski?
Also six. I raced in the Baby Category.

How did your career proceed at first?
In Italy, there’s elementary school and then middle school; these are obligatory in Italy. When I was 16, I didn’t want to go to school any more. I really like manual labor, working with my hands, fixing engines and doing things like that. I always have. I found a special school [similar to a technical school] and we had all our afternoons off, so I could train every afternoon.

The first year, things didn’t go so well for me. The second year, after went to work with a governmental park ranger group, I got to do things like work in forestry with a chainsaw and that was perfect for me. I still really like to work with my hands and with tools. After another several months, I went into the Italian Carabinieri’s [Italian National Police] Sport Division. This allowed me to train full time and exclusively for Nordic skiing from there on.

Compare your career to what happens in the U.S. University academic – athletic system for young athletes.
The overall development of an endurance athlete happens over the period of years. At 12 or 13 years old, things start to get important. Then, the years from 18 to 24 are crucial for development. If you miss these steps, it’s too late. To compete with others in a focused, serious way, you need to train full-time during these years. To make this leap, across these developmental stages, is very, very hard and it doesn’t work to do it a little. You have to do it all the way. Things just aren’t going to work otherwise. In Italy, you can continue with school but it is set up so that you get a lot of time to train and recover.

In northern Italy, there are five winter sports: Alpine, ski-jumping, cross country, biathlon, and nordic combined—and that’s it. There’s a training center and that’s what we do, train and compete.

The world has changed a lot in the last 15-20 years. It used to be that you’d study until you were 18 at the oldest. Now it’s more like 25 or 30 years old. The way of living in Italy has changed so much. When I was little, it was normal to start working at 16 or 18 years of age. Now, student aged people only work when they’re not in school. They may work for a few months during vacation and that’s it. The whole system has changed.

Now, everyone goes to school for longer. They get married later. There’s a lot of pressure to keep going to some sort of school. For me, it’s important for a young person to work in order to understand the sacrifices that are necessary. It’s important that they work so that they see just how difficult it is and can be to do a job well and make a living. Now, all these things get delayed and kept out of the experience of young people. Maybe now without these challenges there is a resulting lack of toughness and comprehension of what’s involved in really living.

Who pays you?
Only the Carabinieri. The team or FISI (Italian Winter Sport Federation) pays the support staff, the lodging, trip costs and some other miscellaneous stuff. There was a time when the FISI was stronger financially and, for example, when I was a junior, they gave me a scholarship for the studies that I kept up with. All I had to do was be a part of the national team system. Now, nothing. If you got a podium in the past, they used to pay you. Not any more.

There’s another Italian sport federation, CONI, which does pay out to athletes but only on Olympic years. CONI has some other ways to help athletes, too. Also, we’re limited to one and only one headwear sponsor -- they get a logo on our hats. Otherwise, there are no sponsors allowed on our uniforms unless they are part of the FIS regulations and Italian team standards. My sponsor is PocketCoffee; it is a coffee-chocolate candy company.

What are your favorite events or formats?
The last three years I’ve gotten a lot better at skating so I’ve really been favoring these events. Not too long ago, I was better at classic but, honestly, I’ve gotten worse at classic and better at skating. But, I like it that way because the pursuit always ends with skating and it’s important to be strong on that last, freestyle part of the race. I really like 15k classic. I really like long distance races, like 50 Ks but they don’t happen very much—Olympics, World Championships, or Holmenkollen, which happens once a year. I like the pursuit, too. And 15k free,  too. But, you know, I’m getting old for these races, I’m 35. I was the oldest racer on the podium, did you see?

But what about Maurilio de Zolt? He was 42 years old or so, no?
Ehhhhhh, Maurilio!!! [Laughs and waves his hand dismissively with a smile.]

Briefly, what’s a typical training year like for you?
About 800 hours. At this level, it’s not so much the amount as it is the intensity that’s important. More than 800 hours is no good, it’s counterproductive.

Does the Italian team have a philosophy that’s part of its success?
First, we all get along, all of us, everyone -- the wax men, the male racers, the female racers; we don’t make any distinctions. That part is hard. It’s really hard for each one of us as an individual to be mindful of this task but if we all get along it makes a really big difference. You’ll see and feel it in the team. Also, the technical support staff -- they’re really important. Have you seen how little the difference is between finishers sometimes? That’s why the wax men and equipment are so, so important these days—so important.

How can a country like Italy with only a small part of it that has a winter season do so well?
I come from a place where there is a mentality of sacrifice and perseverance. For me, it’s a spirit of sacrifice that I have been given from my parents and the people around me. It’s a way of life. Along with my family, we all meet these challenges together. This is just how we live. If things come easy, especially material things and comfort, then you’ll never understand.  Results come from sacrifice. That’s how it is.

What’s a good vacation or time away from skiing for you?
Anything with my family. We’ve always gone to the sea; it’s only about an hour and half away.

My way of living is simple: work. I also like to work with my hands still. I like working on a tractor I have and I also got a little mini-excavator. My home has some forest around it so I like to work out there so that everything is just right and in order.

I really like driving the grooming machine, too. The Nordic center near me lets me groom with their Pisten Bully and that’s one of my favorite things to do.

Thank you very much Giorgio!
Thank you, it’s my pleasure