Goffredo Lagger

As a child, Goffredo Lagger learned to ski in a setting that embodied Italian cross-country skiing thanks to Don Rocco Beltrami, a legendary skiing-priest who brought skiing to the Formazza Valley. He managed the first competitions in the area and founded the Val Formazza Ski Club in 1910. Lagger grew up under the guidance of the Ferrera brothers and learnt their methods and techniques. He was fortunate to be in the military when, 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.

Lieutenant Piero Dente won the former and was made leader of the four-man team that also contained 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 possible bronze medal.