Isolde, former world champion, manages a chalet in Selva di Val Gardena: “I’m the joker, I’m in the kitchen and I take tourists skiing. Today’s Italian women are no stronger than us. My children? One is a cook, one helps us, the little one wants to become Ronaldo”
Three Olympic medals, three World Cup medals, 15 World Cup victories, 51 podiums, winner of the Downhill World Cup in 2001 and 2002: Isolde Kostner was among the fastest skiers in the world. Now she is a successful entrepreneur.
Isolde, how have these first 50 years been?
“Not boring at all. I had a wonderful childhood, two parents who left me free: in the summer to play in the woods and meadows; in the winter to go skiing, cross-country, ice hockey, skating. You could still go sledding on the street.”
Isolde Kostner
Former downhill skier
Born in Bolzano on 20 March 1975, she won 3 medals at the Olympics and 2 golds at the World Championships. He won 2 downhill specialty cups.
Then the years as an athlete.
“I started training seriously at 11, and stopped at 31. I realized the dream I had as a child, that of one day skiing on TV. My mother was a huge fan, she watched all the races. And me too, my idol was Zurbriggen. My passion wasn’t skiing, but sport in general: volleyball, cycling, climbing, mountain walking, swimming, cross-country skiing. I learned many things: always in contact with lots of people who came from different places, from different families, I got rich.”
Who is Isolde Kostner today?
“I am the mother of three children, aged 19, 17 and 9. And I am the owner of two businesses: the B&B where I got married, the Garní Residence Soraiser in Selva di Val Gardena, which belonged to my husband’s family, and for three years the luxury chalet Vilaiet in Ortisei.”
He is still in contact with many people.
“Tourists don’t stay for more than a week, the good thing is that they are on holiday, generally more relaxed. But woe if there’s no wifi…”.
“In the B&B I’m the wild card: if there’s a maid missing I’m the waitress, if my husband’s missing I prepare the breakfasts, I’m where I’m needed. I take care of the gardens, I spend whole days taking care of flowers, pruning bushes. And then the laundry, the beds. At the chalet, however, I welcome customers and one day a week I take them skiing.”
Where does someone who lives in Val Gardena go on holiday?
“Let’s look for the heat, let’s go and stock up on the sun.”
Favorite time of day?
“I’m an early riser. The clearest memory of my competitive life are the mornings on the glaciers, we went very early, before 5am, when no one was there yet, we saw the sunrise.”
Do your children help you?
“The second one helped us a lot from a very young age, but as a teenager he lost his desire. David, the big one, would like to be a chef and is working in Selva in the kitchen of a starred chef. The little one for now wants to become Cristiano Ronaldo.”
This year your first child turns twenty: what effect does it have on you?
“Incredible. Life passes too quickly. In 2024 I celebrated 30 years since my first Olympic medal and I couldn’t understand it: but how did thirty years already pass?”.
Are your children different from what you were at their age?
“Different, yes. I was very meticulous already at 11 years old, a perfectionist, I always did more than what they asked me to do. They aren’t so determined. The little one plays the accordion but isn’t fixated. For now with football yes, let’s see in two years.”
“Very similar to my parents. I’m not afraid, as children I sent them to the most difficult slopes, I wrote my phone number on their helmet but they always returned home calmly.”
As a wife? Is she jealous?
“No. If he finds someone he likes more than me, let him go. Maybe I’m saying this because it hasn’t happened so far.”
Was it easy to stop competing?
“Yes, because in 2004 I had taken some time to decide, I had chosen to continue only until the Turin Games. I was prepared to stop. Then in December I discovered I was pregnant, I just stopped earlier.”
She missed the Olympics because she was expecting a baby: how did the federation take it?
“They may not have taken it very well, but that’s how it was now.”
He won five times at the Olympia delle Tofane in Cortina.
“It was right up my alley. I saw Lindsey Vonn as unbeatable, but now I don’t know.”
Are today’s Italians stronger than you?
“I wouldn’t say so. It would be enough to remember all our opponents.”
What were the Olympics for you?
“Lillehammer was a dream. I was 18 years old, I had recently won my first race, but I was calm, without any pressure. I said to myself: I’ll go down, I’ll give it my all, if I finish 30th it’s ok, if I get on the podium all the better”.
She always seemed calm.
“Instead I had stomach problems: I was convinced that it was my weak point, but since I stopped I never had any problems again. Evidently it was the tension.”
“In first grade, at school, a giant. I came second behind my dear friend Christine Gruber.”
Its best quality?
“I would say balance. Even if I get angry, I never exaggerate.”
Do you have a dream that you have yet to realize?
“Unfortunately no, I no longer have big dreams like winning races. But I would like to get people aged 50 and over to do sport. It’s very important, it’s health.”
Is there something that scares you?
“Certain political figures give me thoughts.”
“Yes. After turning 50 I found more peace of mind in myself. I have always been very meticulous, I wanted things to be perfect. I learned to take things more philosophically.”
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