Piero Dente

Piero Dente was a lieutenant in the Alpine troops and an excellent cross-country skier. At the end of 1923, the Italian Army took charge of selection for the military ski patrol competition at the first Winter Olympics in 1924. They organised two simultaneous races: one for officers and one for regular soldiers. Dente beat fellow officers by a considerable margin and gained automatic selection as team leader of the four-man squad for The Games that also contained Goffredo Lagger (winner of the second race), Paolo Francia, and Albino Bich.

At Chamonix, the odds were against the Italian team. Firstly, the weather was not ideal, and the flat route did not suit the quartet. After a few kilometres Francia fell ill, and Dente waited for him while the other two members of the team continued. At the halfway point, the Italians were in fifth place and when Francia and Dente caught up, Bich broke a ski, and the heartbroken Italians were forced to pull out of the race despite ambitions of winning a bronze medal.

Dente continued his military career and returned to the sporting scene in 1926 and won the Italian 25 km cross-country military championship. He never competed at a high level again.