Confessions from the mother of the Olympic silver medalist in downhill skiing: “The most overwhelming emotion in Kitzbuhel. The symbiosis with his brother and the coach who changed his life, Lucia Dalmasso’s mother.” Dad Osvaldo: “Humble, respectful and… vain!”

“When I saw Elena, Lucia Dalmasso’s mother, we couldn’t speak. She was Giovanni’s first coach when I took him to Falcade. We hugged each other. And we cried.“ As the sun sets on the Fan Village in Livigno, Mrs. Irene, Giovanni Franzoni’s mother, still has the silver medal from the Olympic downhill in Milan Cortina in her eyes. Her husband Osvaldo (”but you have to call me Osvi, eh!“), wearing dark glasses ”to hide his emotions” and with a charming Gene Hackman-like face, wanders around with the family dog. “Of course I’m a paratrooper! I was in Livorno!” he says with an innate charm and a slightly theatrical manner that we think has opened many doors for him in life. He has an iron trading company, run together with his other son, Alessandro, Giovanni’s twin. But it is Donna Irene who has kept the Franzoni world turning in the right direction. How did you do it, Irene?

The move—  “I went to Falcade with Ale and Gio, they were 15 years old. We lived in Manerba, they were in middle school, and at the end of their third year, I asked the principal if there was a sports high school in the area. Nothing. My children had to study and get good grades at school. Otherwise, no skiing. That was the deal, and it was clear: they had to work hard for things. So, they went to a science high school in Brescia. But do you know what my life was like? I took them from Manerba to Brescia, and from there to the mountains. No, we couldn’t go on like that. Do you know how many discussions I had with the principal to sort things out? Giovanni had an average grade of 7, but in his first year of high school, they wanted to fail him because of too many absences. In the end, that was it. We took them to Falcade, a sports high school but with Latin. Yes, Latin, because my children had to complete a full course of study. That’s where things started to change. Elena Valt, Lucia Dalmasso’s mother, guided him technically.

The shin guards of destiny—  “My children used second-hand skis, then little by little we started to be able to buy new ones for competitions. One year, I don’t remember exactly when, there was an important competition in Abetone, I think a giant slalom because at that time he wanted to make his mark in the technical disciplines. So, when he was there in Abetone, he called me: ‘Mom, I saw a pair of shin guards, they’re beautiful’; ‘How much do they cost?’; ‘Eh, 240 euros’. Listen, I really couldn’t spend that kind of money. So I said to him: ‘Listen, Giovanni, if you win the race, they’ll give you those shin guards as a gift’. Oh, he won the race. I’m sure that if I had given him the go-ahead to buy them, he wouldn’t have won that race. And in the end, they really did give him those shin guards! And just think, the company that made those shin guards is still Giovanni’s sponsor today.“

”I’m always second, Mom”—  “Before Falcade, he suffered a little from this. ‘I always come second,’ ‘I always lose’; even with his brother, Alessandro was always ahead of him. ‘But you have to try harder, Giovanni,’ I would say to him. That’s why I wanted them to study at a real high school, with Latin. For the sense of sacrifice, I believe that many children today are given too much.” Every now and then, his father Osvi chimes in: “Do you know what my son has? He wants to make others feel good. Those he loves. He’s good at that, making others feel good. The energy he has inside? Oh, he’s got it. Just think, we enrolled him in his first ski club when he was four because he couldn’t sleep at night: too much energy, too much drive! But he is vain, eh, that’s for sure. Vain about his appearance, he cares about that, you know what I mean? Did he get that from me?” Osvi’s father turns on his heel and walks away, the question hanging in the air, his mother smiles a smile that looks like a yes but a sweet one, a knowing smile.

Franzoni and the coaches—  “In short, when we go to the new high school, everything changes, a whole new world opens up. Elena, as I said, frames him technically, guiding him for two years. Then it’s Moritz Micheluzzi who gets him hooked on speed. And he keeps telling us, ‘gentlemen, this boy has talent…’. I don’t know, he saw something in Giovanni. In fact, my son didn’t want to do speed, he wanted to do slalom and giant slalom. But little by little he was convinced. At around 17, he turned a corner, winning everything in the world of FIS competitions in one season: giant slalom, slalom, speed, and the overall ranking. Then he was called up to Team C and taken under the wing of Max Carca, who was in charge of the 2001s. Even today, Max is still like an older brother to Giovanni.“ Franzoni and his twin—  ”Yes, yes, as a boy, Alessandro always beat his twin brother. But they grew up together, they’ve always been very close, they have a very intense relationship. Then Gio exploded and started winning. Ale became a ski instructor, he works on weekends because during the week he is busy with my husband, they run the family business. Ale has a gift, he sees flaws, technical errors, details that others don’t see. He has a degree in business economics, but Giovanni constantly asks him to watch videos and tell him what he thinks. Tweak this, change that, little things that Gio needs to discuss. He either asks one or says the other, but they have a special connection.“ Kitzbuhel and Bormio—  ”How did I feel when he won silver? Nothing… I mean, I didn’t realize what he had really done. Then I was up there in the stands—but they put us too high up, eh…—so I didn’t feel the emotion right away. Instead, I was devastated in Kitzbuhel, the day he won the downhill. I saw him looking for me from below, so I knew he needed a hug. Because when he was a child, he always said to me, ‘Mom, I want to win in Kitzbuhel’. That day, I was overwhelmed with emotion.” His father returns, hiding his feelings inside: “I always told him, focus on your goals. Be an athlete. And he’s good at that. Everyone likes him because he’s humble, respectful, always. He hasn’t changed, he’s always thought about focusing on the things that really matter, always with his feet on the ground.”

It’s only the beginning for Franzoni—  “Oh, have no doubt. Of course, the silver medal in Bormio is just the beginning. I know that. Because he has never been satisfied in life, he always wants to give more, to improve, always. Do you know what he sometimes says to me? ‘Mom, I have to win for the sponsors too, I have to reward them after what they’ve done for me.’ That’s my Giovanni.”