It has not happened yet but it could be just a matter of time! So far, no daughter or son of a former champion who won a FIS World Cup race has managed to imitate his or her mom or dad. But now Italy's Federica Brignone, the 19-year-old shooting star on the giant slalom tour seems ready to be the first to set this new landmark in the near future.
Brignone, 3rd three weeks ago at Aspen, Colorado, in her only fifth World Cup race, was a strong 4th on Saturday at Are, only 42/100 of a second from the podium. She finished a few hundredths ahead of Germany's Kathrin Hoelzl, the reigning World Champion in the event and winner at Aspen.
The determined skier from Courmayeur, who wore bib 22 in the Are race, moved up in the first seed group after this new performance which has been well celebrated in her ski club in the Aosta valley.
"We are all very excited of course and we opened a few bottles of ‘Spumante' in her honour," said her mother, Maria Rosa Quario, one of the best Italian slalom skiers a few decades ago with four World Cup wins and a 4th place at the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid. She never reached a podium in giant slalom however.
Maria Rosa Quario is still very much involved with ski racing as a journalist reporting for the monthly ‘Sciare' magazine. She is also directing the weekly ‘Snowtime' TV show distributed around the globe by Infront Sports&Media.
"It's very interesting for me to follow Federica's career and see how she moved up in recent seasons, I guess I'll be more and more nervous in the coming months, especially if she qualifies for the Vancouver Olympics that I'll also attend as a reporter," she added.
"In fact it's my husband, a trainer in local ski club, who first saw that she got some talent when she was around 10 or 11," Quario also explained. "He trained her a while but others took over when she got older."
Last season, Brignone celebrated her first major success winning gold in combined at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships which qualified her for the Italian ski team. She scored her first World Cup points at Soelden last October finishing 21st in giant slalom.
In the absence of Denise Karbon, who injured her knee in Colorado, Federica is clearly the most consistent if not the best Italian giant slalom skier at the moment which should open her the door for the coming Olympics.
"It would be for sure very special for me to be at the finish line at Whistler Mountain in case she races there, but for the moment I'm looking forward to watch her race next Sunday at Val d'Isère where she should compete in super-G."
Maria Rosa Quario never needed to push her daughter to become a ski racer. "She always enjoyed skiing fast and had much fun watching some races with me, but she is a very independent person and basically decides herself what she wants to do. She never requested any advice from me and never asked me anything about my past career."
"Federica was very excited to attend some Olympic races at Sestriere in 2006. There she became a big fan of Ted Ligety," also commented Quario. "She tries to ski as him now after greatly admiring Sonja Nef, the great Swiss giant slalom skier ten years ago. She was so proud to wear one of her racing suits in 2004 or 2005 when she was competing in the children races, winning the Italian children championships."
Tina Weirather, the daughter of Hanni Wenzel, the two-time World Cup winner and double Olympic Champion in 1980 and Harti Weirather, the 1982 downhill world champion, also clinched several gold medals at the Junior World Championships but never managed to reach a World Cup podium so far. The 20-year-old talent from Liechtenstein, 19th at Are, suffered several major injuries in recent seasons, including torn ligaments on her two knees two years ago.
Interestingly enough, Hanni's brother Andreas was also one of the top-stars on the World Cup tour in the 1980s. He clinched the overall World Cup title in 1980 in the same year as his sister.
Germany's Felix Neureuther, the son of Christian Neureuther and Rosi Mittermaier, the legendary double Olympic champion at Innsbruck, also has a great chance to achieve that unusual feat after winning the World Cup promotion race at Moscow last January. He already reached several World Cup podiums in slalom and is now shooting for his first World Cup victory.
Many brothers and sisters also managed to be successful on the World Cup tour - the most famous pair being the Mahre brothers, Phil and Steve, and the Kostelic siblings, Janica and Ivica, both slalom World Champions in 2003 at St Moritz. Phil and Steve Mahre finished 1st and 2nd in slalom at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, in former Yugoslavia.
In 1998, France's Adrien Duvillard won a World Cup downhill at Kvitfjell, in Norway, a week prior to the Finals at Crans-Montana. His dad, Adrien Sr, was one of the best French skiers in the late 1950's, winning great ‘Classics' as Kitzbühel - in 1960. Unfortunately for him, the World Cup only started seven years later!
Adrien jr's uncle Henri excelled on the World Cup circuit in the 1970s, winning races in all ‘classic' alpine events - downhill, giant slalom and slalom - but never a major title. Henri is married to the former slalom World Cup champion Britt Lafforgue. Their daughter Julie and Kristina tried to imitate them a few years ago but without major success.
Obviously, it's not an easy task to walk in the footsteps of famous parents!
