Eugenio Monti: Born to Fly

Meeting with the author Stefano Rotta & with a greeting from Giuliano Vantaggi
Director of Tourism Promotion Regione del Veneto

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“Red” for the color of his hair, “flying” because no one can speed on snow like him: it was Gianni Brera who gave this nickname to Eugenio Monti, born in Dobbiaco in 1928 and raised in the beauty of the Dolomites and the optimistic, bustling atmosphere of the boom.

Eugenio is fast: on a motorcycle, in a car, with friends, with girls. And on skis, his first love: at twenty-two, he manages to beat the great champion Zeno Colò. Nothing seems to stop him, until his dream of a skiing career is shattered by two serious ligament injuries. Give up? No: keep racing. Red Flying is born, the legend of bobsledding.

At the time, it is a tough sport, for pioneers: many get injured before the finish line, and there are fatalities on the slopes. Eugenio, however, makes it, and he comes in first, earning an exceptional medal count for Italy. But it’s also his charisma and fair play that make him a legend: at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, with a gesture as simple as it is incredible, by gifting a bolt from his bob to his English opponents, he also gifts them the gold medal.

He profiles an instinctive and generous athlete, but also a tormented one. Victories, defeats, elations, and disappointments, until the last tragic night with the cold outside and despair in his heart. The tale of Italy that knew how to fall and rise again, run and dream.

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