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A lot of champagne has flowed in the career of Michela Figini (57). Between 1984 and 1990, the exceptional athlete from Leventina won 26 World Cup victories, eight World Cup crystal balls (two large, six small), one Olympic and one World Cup gold medal. Since Lara Gut-Behrami’s victory on Sunday, she is no longer the only two-time overall World Cup winner from Ticino.
It was quiet for a long time around Gut-Behrami’s predecessor as a Ticino ski high flyer. Now she is back and Blick visits her home. And instead of champagne there is now another drink. Because Figini now regularly taps beer. The former downhill queen receives guests with great charm in the cozy restaurant of the padel tennis center in Biasca, which she has been running with her business partner Marlon D’Amico for over a year.
As Figini skillfully pours the hop juice into the glass, she reveals to the Blick reporter that the strict legislation in the canton of Ticino almost hindered her career as a restaurateur. «I was not admitted to business school because I did not learn a profession. After this rejection, I pointed out to the authorities that as a top athlete I went through a particularly tough school. But unfortunately the authorities were not interested in that.”
The Olympic sensation
Luckily for Figini, her masseuse has an innkeeper’s license, so she can continue to legally run the restaurant business in her padel paradise. And as an experienced entrepreneur, ‘Michi’ has a plan to attract even more people to her restaurant in the future – a Ticino sports museum will be built in the basement.
The legendary pink and black racing suit with which Figini won downhill gold at the Olympic Games in Sarajevo on February 16, 1984 as a 17-year-old teenager will also be on display here. This makes the mother of two the youngest alpine champion in Olympic history to date. “My big advantage at the time was that I could start without any pressure of expectation. For me it was already a great success that I had qualified for the Olympic Games in the last World Cup race for Sarajevo.”
Great anger after winning the World Cup
Twelve months later, the “Ragazza” from Prato proved that she could playfully handle enormous pressure. In Bormio she was crowned world downhill champion as top favorite. After this race, a Swiss-German journalist wrote an article that hit Figini hard. Under the heading ‘It’s a shame, Michela’ it was written ‘that the new world champion did not want to or did not want to turn her black, fluffy head towards the cameras. Leventina’s diva blew everyone away within 30 seconds of the awards ceremony.”
It still hurts Figini today when she is confronted with this column: “These rules have caused quite a bit of chaos in my life. Because the column was also translated into the Italian Corriere della Sera, my parents were also bothered by it. And the article was unfair because I was at the disposal of the photographers and reporters. But because there were too many reporters present, I couldn’t give exclusive interviews that day. And because this journalist did not want to interview me in a group with the other German-speaking Swiss, but alone, he wrote such a nasty article about me out of revenge.
Resignation in the heyday
Figini notes that “this column completely changed my behavior towards the media. From that day until the end of my career, I only did the bare minimum with the journalists.” And the end of his career came much sooner than anyone expected. In March 1990, a month before her 24th birthday, the two-time overall World Cup winner announced her resignation due to irreconcilable differences with then head coach Jan Tischhauser.
“For me, the system in the Swiss ski team was no longer sufficiently conducive to performance; there were too many disruptive factors for me. That’s why I wanted to set up a private team with my old service man and legendary trainer Karl Frehsner. But the association did not agree to that,” she says today.
Therefore, Figini gave up the hunt for further triumphs in her sporting prime and started a family with the former Italian giant slalom specialist Ivano Camozzi. Although her marriage fell apart, Figini never regretted this decision. “I won everything as a ski racer. And my children Valentina and Marco mean much more to me than all the victories combined.”
The big shock of last summer
Last winter, Figini returned to the ski circus as an expert for television in Ticino. However, this comeback contained an extremely painful punch line. “It really is an incredible story,” she shakes her head. “After being spared serious injuries as a racing driver, as a TV pundit I damaged the meniscus of my left knee and tore my cruciate and medial ligaments while watching the women’s downhill in St. Moritz!”
Last summer, the two-time Swiss athlete of the year experienced another shocking moment. «Shortly after having a new hip on the left side, I suddenly became blind in one eye. I had to undergo another operation to insert a special lens. » But since then, Michela Figini has regained full perspective in every situation.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
