Stories of the men and women who are the modern day heroes of the Winter Olympics The famous sports journalist Gian Paolo Ormezzano has put his brilliant pen to the service of the Winter Olympics. This book is an impassioned and documented narration of its history, telling the many tales that have marked the nineteen Winter Games prior to those awaited in Turin, Italy in 2006. Today, sports have taken on the role that belonged to mythology in ancient times. Like myths, sports produce heroes and Ormezzano describes the feats of these latter day heroes in his engaging style. Told almost as fables, each is dedicated to the person who has acted in it and become its symbol. From Zeno Col? to Gustavo Thoeni, from the cross-country skiers Stefania Belmondo and Manuela Di Centa to the superb racers Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, from the ice skater Katarina Witt to the tobogganist Paul Hildgartner, together with the all other champions, they are the protagonists of this tale of sport that