Who is Val Gardena/Gröden sensation Alessio Miggiano? The speed specialist played football for FC Zurich as a youngster, but then decided to pursue a career in skiing. blue News visited him in the summer.
What surreal days these are for Alessio Miggiano! The 23-year-old Swiss speed skier is experiencing three races in Val Gardena/Gröden that he will probably never forget. On Thursday, he finished 18th in his fifth World Cup race, scoring points for the first time. One day later, he made his World Cup debut in the Super-G and sensationally finished in the points again in 21st place.
His big performance followed in the original downhill on Saturday. Miggiano skied to an incredible fifth place with bib number 43 - just 0.06 seconds off the podium. He almost finished behind Franjo von Allmen and Marco Odermatt and even secured a Swiss one-two-three victory. Just a week ago, Miggiano already shone in the European Cup when he finished 3rd and 1st in Santa Caterina.
He has announced the Val Gardena/Gröden thriller
In an interview with SRF almost immediately after his run, Miggiano said: "I didn't expect this step to come so quickly." The course definitely suits him and he has already had a lot of fun in the last few days: "I was really looking forward to 'crashing' down here again."
He immediately felt that it was good today, explains Miggiano and remembers a moment he experienced during athletics training in the summer: "I was joking with my colleagues in the summer, then look in Val Gardena/Gröden, then it's a blast."
Miggiano definitely made a splash with his fifth place and even achieved something that he hadn't even thought about when he was interviewed: Olympic qualification. When asked about this, he says: "Oh yes, that's right!" He hadn't even thought about it so soon after crossing the finish line, Miggiano admits and says: "I'm just over the moon with how it just went!"
From FCZ junior to the world's top skier
But who is this Alessio Miggiano? blue Sport visited the man from the Zurich Oberland region in his home town of Bubikon in the documentary series "Ski stars of tomorrow" this summer. His parents Domenico and Rita run the Michelin-starred Löwen restaurant there. In the restaurant kitchen, there was a scrambled egg competition against his own father.
Miggiano also opened the door to his room for us and revealed why he went to FCZ trial training in a GC jersey as a teenager. In the video above, you can find out why he ultimately decided to pursue a career in skiing and who his biggest role model was.
Profile
- First name, surname: Alessio Miggiano
- Date of birth: March 30, 2002
- Ski club: Zücher Oberland racing group
- Squad: B
- In the squad since: May 1, 2023
- World Cup debut: December 21, 2024 (downhill, Val Gardena/Gröden)
