Erjon Tola

Erjon Tola
Erjon Tola as the Albanian standard bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver
nation	Albania
birthday	15th December 1986 (age 33)
place of birth	Tirana , Albania
size	181 cm
Weight	78 kg
Career
discipline	Giant slalom , slalom
status	active
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
Individual World Cup debut March 9, 2013
last change: February 22, 2018

Erjon Tola (born December 15, 1986 in Tirana ) is an Albanian ski racer . In 2006 in Turin, he was the first winter sportsman to ever compete for Albania at the Winter Olympics . He was also the only representative of his country to take part in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver .

Career

Tola started skiing at the age of six. In 1991 his father emigrated to Italy and settled in Cervinia (Aosta Valley). Two years later he brought his family from Albania to join him. In Cervinia, Tola joined the local ski club and competed in her first youth races.

Since the winter sports resort of Sestriere - not far from where the family lived - was planned as the venue for the alpine competitions for the 2006 Winter Olympics , the idea of ​​Albania participating for the first time was born. Tola's father made contact with the Albanian ski association. To prepare for sport, he took part in several national youth races in Italy as well as in the Italian championship. At the end of January 2006 he competed in his first FIS race .

Competitions

At the Olympic competitions he competed in the three disciplines Super-G , Giant Slalom and Slalom . In the Super-G he was the last driver in the standings, more than 13 seconds behind the winner, in the giant slalom he was able to leave six drivers behind and finished 35th, in the slalom he was eliminated in the first round.

After his Olympic adventure, he contested two FIS races in Switzerland in December. After that he did not take part in any international races for several years. At the beginning of 2009 and 2010 he drove again several FIS races.

So he was able to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Again he was the only Albanian athlete who wanted to compete again in Vancouver in the three disciplines of super-G, giant slalom and slalom. Tola was injured in training in Vancouver, which could have had an impact on his performance: In giant slalom he was only 63rd, in slalom 48th last, after he had to relegate due to a missed goal. He did not start in the Super-G.

He was also registered at the 2014 Games in Sochi and again carried the flag; for the first time the Albanian delegation consisted of two athletes and included the skier Suela Mëhilli . But Tola could not start in the races after breaking his forearm and hand during training and having to undergo an operation. He spent five days in a local hospital.

At the 2015 World Championships in Vail / Bever Creek and 2017 in St. Moritz , he started in giant slalom and slalom. In the giant slalom he came in 57th place. two years later in 46th place, in slalom in 2017 in 50th place, while he was eliminated in 2015.

At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , he competed again in slalom and giant slalom.

successes

winter Olympics

• Turin 2006 : 35th giant slalom, 56th Super-G
• Vancouver 2010 : 48th slalom, 63rd giant slalom
• Pyeongchang 2018 : 36th slalom, 47th giant slalom

World championships

• Schladming 2013 : 42nd slalom, 54th giant slalom
• Vail / Beaver Creek 2015 : 57th giant slalom

More Achievements

• 2 victories in FIS races

Quotes

“You're a little hero when you're all alone at the Olympics. But it's not really fun. "

- Erjon Tola in Vancouver

"I couldn't win in any case a medal, but I kept going."

- Erjon Tola in Vancouver after the slalom

Web links

• Erjon Tola in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
• Fan page on Facebook
• La Repubblica of February 23, 2006: La favola del giovane Erjon Tola tra i paletti della vita e della pista (Italian)
• The Washington Post of 27 February 2010: Albanian takes the slow road (English)
• Sochi 2014 athlete profile

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Shqipëria në lojerat Olimpike Dimërore "Vancouver 2010". In: Komiteti Olimpik Kombëtar Shqiptar. Retrieved February 10, 2010 (Albanian). 
2. ↑ Spiegel.de. Retrieved February 26, 2010 . 
3. ↑ Sochi 2014 - Takim i titullareve te KOKSH me perfaqesues te Ambasades Ruse. In: Komiteti Olimpik Kombëtar Shqiptar. Retrieved January 15, 2014 (Albanian). 
4. ↑ Jim Young: Albania's flag-bearer Erjon Tola leads his delegation as they march in during… In: Yahoo! Sports. February 7, 2014, accessed February 23, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Erjon Tola del nga spitali. In: SportExspres.com. February 19, 2014, archived from the original on February 27, 2014 ; Retrieved February 23, 2014 (Albanian). 
6. ↑ Erjon Tola in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
7. ↑ From the family clan to the lonely Albanian. (No longer available online.) In: LAOLA1.at. Archived from the original on February 22, 2010 ; Retrieved February 28, 2010 . 
8. ↑ Slow-motion snow leopard's roar better than Bode's bite. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 28, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.