Frédéric Covili (born November 14, 1975 in Moûtiers , Savoie ) is a former French ski racer . In the first years of the 21st century he was one of the world's best runners in the giant slalom discipline . He won two World Cup races, was winner of the Giant Slalom World Cup ranking in the 2001/02 season and third at the 2001 World Cup.
But during the next five years Covili could not confirm these achievements. It was not until December 2000 that he returned to the top ten. At the 2001 World Ski Championships in St. Anton am Arlberg , he surprisingly won the bronze medal in the giant slalom, behind the Swiss Michael von Grünigen and the Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt , which was the first ever giant slalom medal for French men at a major event since Gold medal from Jean-Claude Killy in Grenoble in 1968 and overall sixth in the giant slalom record at World Championships with a medal win (alongside Killy it was François Bonlieu with silver in 1954, bronze in 1958 and gold in 1964 - and Guy Périllat with gold in 1966, Georges Mauduit with silver in 1966 and James Couttet with bronze in 1950).
In the 2001/02 season Covili proved to be the best giant slalom runner in the world. He achieved two victories in World Cup races and was second three times. With these achievements he decided the Giant Slalom World Cup for himself, which again ended a long "dry spell", because since 1970/71 ( Patrick Russel ) none of the men of the "Grande Nation" had made it to this discipline for to decide. The French championship title followed at the end of the season . In 2003 he reached another three podium places and became French champion again. In 2002 he also took part in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and finished 15th in the giant slalom.
In December 2003, Covili fell seriously in the giant slalom on the Gran Risa in Alta Badia , suffered a cruciate ligament tear in his left knee and had to take a break for the entire season. Less than a year later, just before the World Cup, the same mishap happened to him, this time in his right knee; again he was out for the rest of the season. After that, Covili could no longer build on his previous achievements and rarely achieved placements in the World Cup points. On January 21, 2009, he announced his retirement after he had missed his season goal, the qualification for the World Cup in Val-d'Isère . In his last race eleven days earlier in Alta Badia, he finished 34th.