Downhill ace reached speeds of almost 100mph with no helmet
Zeno Colò, pictured on the way to his 1947 skiing world speed record |
The winner, too, of the downhill and giant slalom World
championship titles in Aspen in 1950, Colò achieved his success during a brief
window in a life spent on skis.
Deprived of prime competitive years by the Second World War,
part of which he spent as a prisoner of war, he began his career late, in 1947
at the age of 27, only to be banned for life in 1954 under the strict rules
defining amateur status after he endorsed a brand of ski boots and a ski
jacket.
Colò was born in Tuscany but in a mountainous part of the region
in the village of Cutigliano, which is 678m (2,044ft) above sea level and is
just 14km (9 miles) from Abetone, one of the largest ski resorts in the
Apennines, with more than 50km (31 miles) of ski slopes, several of which were
designed by Colò himself.
He began competitive skiing at the age of 14 and was
selected for the Italian national team at 15. The outbreak of war brought his
career to a stop but he maintained his skills as a member of an army alpine
patrol in Cervinia, close to the Swiss border.
He remained in Cervinia after the war had finished and in
1947, the first year of his resumed career, on the Italian side of the nearby Klein
Matterhorn (the Little Matterhorn), he set a world speed record of 158.8kph (98.7
mph), which stood for 13 years. The previous record of 136 kph (85mph), set by Leo
Gasperl had stood for 16 years.
Using wooden skis,Zeno Colò won Olympic and world titles in downhill and giant slalom competitions |
His big successes came at the World championships in 1950 in
Aspen, when he won gold medals in both downhill and giant slalom, and the
silver in slalom, followed two years later, at the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, with gold
in the downhill.
Colò also finished fourth in the giant slalom and the
slalom. Italy would wait two decades for its next Olympic gold in alpine skiing
until Gustav Thöni's took giant slalom gold in 1972.
He was the first Italian to win the downhill title at the
World championships and the first of any nationality to win the giant slalom,
which was contested for the first time that year. Staying on in Aspen afterwards,
he took in the North American championships, where he was also winner of the
downhill.
Colò was Italy's torch bearer at the 1956 Olympics despite being banned |
Colò protested against the disqualification but his appeals
were dismissed. Although he was allowed to compete in the national
championships, it was the end of his international career. Pointedly, Italy
selected him for the Olympics of Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 as a simple
torchbearer.
He retired from competition with a record in the Italian Alpine
ski championships of 29 wins in downhill, four in giant slalom, 10 in
special slalom and six in combined disciplines.
Skiing remained the focus of his life, however. Leaving behind
competitive skiing, he became a ski instructor at the Abetone resort, which he
helped promote and develop as the ski resort of the Pistoia province. In 1973
he designed three ski slopes, which he named Zeno 1, 2 and 3.
He retained his connection with the Alps as director of the
ski school in Madesimo, in the province of Sondrio in northern Lombardy.
In 1989 the Italian Winter Sports Federation finally revoked
the disqualification imposed on him in 1954, although by then his days of
competition were in the distant past. A lifelong smoker, his death in 1972 was the
result of lung cancer.
Since Colò won his Olympic gold, Italy has won 12 more Alpine skiing gold medals, three of the them collected by the great Alberto Tomba.
Colò was born in Cutigliano and died in San Marcello
Pistoiese, a small town less than 10km (6 miles) away. Cutigliano is an
attractive medieval village, its roots possibly going back to Roman times but
more likely to have origins in the eighth or ninth centuries, when it was a
staging post on the mountain road linking Pistoia with Modena. The 14th-century Palazzo Pretorio is built in Florentine Renaissance style.
Travel tip:
San Marcello Pistoiese is a much larger place than Cutigliano,
with a population of about 7,000 and again with a medieval heritage. The churches of Santa Caterina and San
Marcello are worth visiting, the latter featuring a mural by the 18th
century Florentine artist Giuseppe Gricci.
San Marcello is home to the Pistoia Mountains Astronomical Observatory.
They’re best in their work!
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