Maria Grazia Marchelli

Maria Grazia Marchelli
nation	Italy
birthday	June 1, 1932
place of birth	Genoa
date of death	June 26, 2006
Place of death	Milan
Career
discipline	Downhill , giant slalom , slalom , combination

Maria Grazia Marchelli (born June 1, 1932 in Genoa , † June 26, 2006 in Milan ) was an Italian ski racer . Together with her sister Carla , she was one of the best runners in her country in the 1950s. 1950 and 1951 she was two consecutive Italian champion in the downhill .

Marchelli came from a wealthy family and originally grew up in the port city of Genoa . When the city was bombed during World War II , her parents and the entire family fled to Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1940 . It was there that Marchelli learned to ski as a teenager.

Eight years later, at the age of 16, she contested her first big race on the descent from the Marmolada . In January 1950, when she was not even 18, she won the downhill and the combination of the prestigious SDS races in Grindelwald, Switzerland, and in the same year she won her first Italian national championship. The following year she was able to defend this title.

Her Olympic debut in Oslo in 1952 was less successful . She was eliminated in both downhill and giant slalom . The last major success of her career was in 1953 with her second downhill win in Grindelwald. Marchelli continued to take part in races in the following years and was a second time member of the Italian Olympic team at the Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 . However, her main focus was on her studies at the university. Finally, she ended her active career in 1960.

Marchelli then worked as a journalist and publisher. She started the sports magazines Sci , Sci fondo and Jogging .

Web links

• Maria Grazia Marchelli in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )