Katia Zini

	Katia Zini
	; Katia Zini (2006)
nation	Italy
birthday	June 23, 1981
place of birth	Sondalo
size	164 cm
Weight	57 kg
Career
society	Ghiaccio Club Livigno
National squad	since 1998
status	resigned
End of career	2010
Medal table
winter Olympics
Short track world championships
European Short Track Championships
Short track junior world championships
	Placements in the Short Track World Cup
Debut in the World Cup	October 21, 1999
World Cup victories	1
Overall World Cup	10. ( 99/00 ); 10. ( 06/07 )
500 m world cup	9. ( 99/00 );
1000 m world cup	9. ( 99/00 ); 10. ( 06/07 )
1500 m world cup	9. ( 99/00 ); 3. ( 06/07 )
	last change: February 8, 2012

Katia Zini (born June 23, 1981 in Sondalo ) is a former Italian short tracker .

biography

Zini started for the Ghiaccio Club Livigno and trained as a sports soldier at the ice and army sports center in Bormio . In 1998, at the age of 16, she was accepted into the national team. Zini competed in three consecutive Olympic Games between 2002 and 2010 and won a bronze medal. At European Championships she is one of the most successful Italian participants with ten medals, nine of them gold. In 2006 she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for her services in sport . She ended her active career in 2010.

Zini comes from a family who loves ice skating. Her cousin Mara was also a successful short tracker and her direct competitor for many years.

Athletic career

Zini played her first international championship in 1998 in St. Louis , where she immediately reached two finals at the Junior World Championship and won the silver medal over 1000 m. A year later she won the gold medal with the relay at the 1999 European Championships in Oberstdorf . In the 1999/00 season she finally made her breakthrough in the adult segment. It started at a total of four World Cups and reached a final once and a semi-final eight times. Over 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 m she was ninth in the discipline world cup rankings and tenth in the overall world cup rankings. At the Junior World Championships in Székesfehérvár she won over 500 m gold and 1500 m bronze. A little later, Zini won her first medals in individual races at the European Home Championships in Bormio. With the relay she became European champion, in the all-around she won silver after she was first in the 500 m and second in the 1500 m and 3000 m. Zini also took part in the team world championship in The Hague , where the Italian team finished fourth, and in the world championship in Sheffield , where she reached the semi-finals as the best result over 1500 m. In the 2000/01 season , Zini reached two finals in the World Cup in individual races. Over 1000 m she came second in Graz and placed on the podium for the first time in the World Cup. She started at the World Championships in Jeonju and reached the semifinals over three individual distances. In the 2001/02 Olympic season , Zini could not improve in the World Cup. Her best results were several semi-finals, mostly over 1500 m. However, she was successful at the European Championships in Grenoble . Zini moved into the final over all four distances. Her best result was third in the 1000 m, in the all-around event she was fourth, and in the relay she won the gold medal. In Salt Lake City , Zini first took part in the Olympic Games . Over 1000 m and 1500 m she was eliminated in the preliminary run, with the relay she won the B final and finished fifth in the final classification.

In the 2002/03 season , Zini was particularly successful in relay and team competitions. She reached a podium for the first time with the relay in the World Cup. At the European Championships in Saint Petersburg she defended the title from the previous year with the relay and at the team world championships in Sofia she won her first World Championship medal in third place. At the World Cup in Warsaw , she just missed another medal as fourth with the relay. In the 2003/04 season, Zini placed in a total of four World Cup races with the relay on the podium. At the European Championships in Zoetermeer , she reached two individual finals and won the silver medal over 500 m, with the relay she also won silver. As in the previous year, Zini finished third with the Italian team at the team world championships in St. Petersburg. The 2004/05 season was not very successful . In the World Cup two semi-finals in individual races remained Zini's best results. At the European Championships in Turin she just missed a medal in fourth place with the relay, at the World Championships in Beijing , reaching the semi-finals over 1500 m remained her best result. The 2005/06 season began with little success at first, with no good placements in individual races in the World Cup. At the home World Cup in Bormio, however, Zini was third with the relay. In their opinion, the European Championship in Krynica-Zdrój was positive . Zini won bronze in the all-around event after she reached three individual finals and won the course over 3000 m. With the relay she finally won her fourth and final European title. In Turin, Zini started at the Olympic Games . Over 1500 m she reached the semi-finals and was tenth in the final ranking, with the relay she surprisingly won bronze and celebrated the greatest sporting success of her career. At the end of the season she was able to win the bronze medal with the relay at the World Championships in Minneapolis .

Zini had her most successful World Cup season in 2006/07 . In addition to numerous semi-finals, she reached a final in the 1000 m and 1500 m respectively, and in the 1000 m she came second in Heerenveen and thus achieved her second World Cup podium in an individual race. In the 1500 m discipline world cup she was third. With the relay she reached two more podium places, including the only World Cup victory of her career in Budapest . At the European Championships in Sheffield , as in the previous year, she was third in the all-around competition and won the silver medal with the relay. She came second over 1500 m and third over 3000 m. At the World Championships in Milan , reaching the semi-finals over 1500 m was her best result. In the 2007/08 season Zini was only able to convince in relay competitions. In the World Cup she reached two podium places with the relay. Her best result at the season highlights was fourth place with the relay at the world championship in Gangneung . Also in the 2008/09 season, Zini placed twice with the relay on a World Cup podium. In individual races, however, she was again unable to convince. She was not taken into account at the World and European Championships. She took part in the team world championship in Heerenveen , where the Italian team finished fifth as the winner of the B-final. Even in her last season 2009/10 Zini could not improve in individual races and again missed participation in the World and European Championships. But she took part in her third Olympic Games in Vancouver . There she was eliminated over 1500 m in the lead, with the relay she was sixth. The home world championship in Bormio was Zini’s last international championship. With the team she won her fourth World Cup bronze medal and celebrated a successful end to her career.

Web links

Katia Zini in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Katia Zini in the database of ShorttrackOnLine.info (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Zini C.le Magg. Katia. Retrieved February 8, 2012 (Italian).

personal data
SURNAME	Zini, Katia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian short tracker
DATE OF BIRTH	June 23, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sondalo

[1] Zini C.le Magg. Katia. Retrieved February 8, 2012 (Italian).