Italian teenager Giada D’Antonio grew up between the slopes of Mount Vesuvius and the Mediterranean Sea, idolizing American skiers Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin.
On Tuesday, still only 16 years old, she was their peer.
D’Antonio made her Olympic debut on Tuesday in the same race as Shiffrin at the Milan Cortina Games. And although it ended in disappointment when she skied out of the slalom portion of the women’s team combined, D’Antonio got a keepsake from her hero when Shiffrin gave her a pair of her gloves.
Shiffrin’s run also didn’t go as planned, finishing 15th in the slalom portion of the race and fourth overall after teammate Breezy Johnson was fastest in the downhill.
D’Antonio’s time on the Tofane course lasted only a few seconds.
She had almost no chance of a medal anyway after teammate Nadia Delago finished almost three seconds behind Johnson. But the youngster started her run aggressively — and was actually faster than Shiffrin at the first time check — but moments later D’Antonio straddled a gate, with her left ski coming off.
“I started off trying to attack because I thought I could have a beautiful race on this slope,” D’Antonio was quoted as saying in Gazzetta dello Sport. “It happens in the slalom, it takes just a moment to straddle a gate.
“I’m happy that I gave it my all up to that point. In fact, at least I also tried the slope ahead of the slalom on the 18th.”
D’Antonio, who fires herself up before every race by listening to American rap, is the youngest member of the Italy team at the Milan Cortina Games and also the athlete that comes from the southernmost part of the country.
The daughter of an Italian father and a Colombian-Ecuadorian mother, D’Antonio is from the small town of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio in the Naples area, at the foot of the volcano. She is the first Neapolitan to compete at a Winter Olympics, according to the Italian Olympic Committee.
“I feel it shows that everything is possible, if you train well,” D’Antonio said. “If you have a goal you have to chase it.
“I also hope it shows the kids from the south that they are not inferior to those from the north … and I wish them the best.”
Olympics: /hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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