Northeast Alps - Winter sports stronghold

As we're now well into the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, it should be noted that the northeast Alps is overwhelmingly the source of Winter Olympic athletes for Italy. Close to half of the Italian team are natives of the South Tyrol alone; with the vast majority of the rest being natives of Lombardy, Trentino, and Tri-Veneto Alps. Südtiroler Dominik Windisch has already won a bronze in the Men's 10km Sprint Biathlon. Even China only has one silver so far, as it's still early.

The Italy at the 2018 Winter Olympics Wikipedia page gives a rundown on all of the events and athletes of the Italian team. Speed skater Arianna Fontana and Alpine skiiers Sofia Goggia and Nadia Fanchini are a few that I'm watching. In last months' World Cup in Austria, Italy took all three medals in the Woman's Alpine Downhill (image below); Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone, and Nadia Fanchini ('Goggia leads Italian sweep at World Cup downhill').

NBCOlympics.com

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The U.S. equivalent to the northeast Italian Alps is Colorado. In fact, many winter athletes from around the world train in the mountainous state. 17 year old snowboarder and Colorado native Red Gerard was the first American to win a gold medal for the slopestyle snowboard event. Michigan native Ryan Pivirotto, with roots in the Veneto Alps apparently, is an American short track speed skater.

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