Fausto Radici

Fausto Radici was an Italian skier and was the second son of a third-generation family of textile industrialists. Despite losing the sight in his left eye at age three, Radici went on to become one of the top Italian Alpine skiiers in the 1970s. He won a gold medal in the giant slalom and silver in slalom at the 1975 Winter Universiade. Radici went into the 1976 Winter Olympics ranked number seven in the world in giant slalom and that is where he finished at Innsbruck. He enjoyed two memorable World Cup wins in 1976 when he beat Piero Gros at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and finished ahead of both Gros and Gustavo Thoeni in Madonna di Campiglio.

Radici quit competitive skiing at the age of 25 and joined the family business, and along with his three brothers ran the textile and chemical sector of the Radici Group, which employed around 6,500 people. Radici married former skier Elena Matous and they had two children. Sadly, in April 2002 at the age of 49, he committed suicide when he shot himself in a woodshed in Monga, between the municipalities of Peia and Leffe, in Val Seriana.