Leonardo David
| — Alpine skier — | |
| Disciplines | Slalom, Giant Slalom, Downhill |
|---|---|
| Born |
27 September 1960 Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Aosta Valley, Italy |
| Died | 26 February 1985 (aged 24) Gressoney-La-Trinité, Aosta Valley, Italy |
| World Cup debut | 1978 |
| Olympics | |
| Teams | 0 |
| World Championships | |
| Teams | 0 |
| World Cup | |
| Seasons | 1 – (1979) |
| Wins | 1 – (1 SL) |
| Podiums | 4 – (1 GS, 3 SL) |
| Overall titles | 0 – (11th in 1979) |
| Discipline titles | 0 – (8th in SL, 1979) |
Leonardo David (27 September 1960 – 26 February 1985) was a World Cup alpine ski racer from northwestern Italy.
Born in Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Aosta Valley, he died of heart failure in Gressoney-La-Trinité after nearly six years in a coma, caused by injuries he sustained in a fall near Lake Placid, New York, on 3 March 1979.
David fell a few yards before the finish of the pre-Olympic downhill at Whiteface Mountain. He slid mostly on his back and his skis remained on. After coming to a stop, David arose and skied over to his coach, bent down to remove his skis, and collapsed. He was airlifted by military helicopter to Burlington, Vermont, where surgeons removed a blood clot in his brain.
He had fallen two weeks earlier, in the downhill race of the Italian national championships at Cortina d'Ampezzo, and a friend reported David had complained of ongoing headaches since. He had been examined by a neurosurgeon, but was allowed to join the Italian team for the conclusion of the World Cup season in North America and Japan.
Then age 18, David was a promising talent on the Italian team, in his first year on the World Cup circuit. He won the overall and slalom titles of the European Cup in 1978, and placed second in giant slalom. He won his only World Cup race, a slalom in Oslo, less than a month before his accident, outpacing Ingemar Stenmark and Phil Mahre. David had 10 top ten finishes with four podiums during the 1979 World Cup season, and finished in 11th place in the overall standings with 85 points.
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Wikipedia