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MILAN, Feb 4 : When Franco Nones won the 30 km cross-country gold at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics, he did more than claim Italy's first Olympic title in the sport - he cracked open a discipline long ruled by Scandinavians and the Soviet Union.
The former champion will once again step on to the Games stage on Friday, carrying the Olympic flag in Cortina d'Ampezzo during the opening ceremony.
In a neat historical coincidence for Italian winter sport, the first Olympic cross-country competition in Val di Fiemme at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games will take place on February 7, the anniversary of his landmark gold medal. The Games come to his home valley exactly 58 years after that victory.
"It's a great honour. I'm very pleased to have been chosen," Nones, who turned 85 on Sunday, told Reuters.
Nones will share the Cortina honour with Italian short-track skater Martina Valcepina.
HOME VALLEY PLAYS BIG ROLE IN GAMES
Nones was born in Castello-Molina di Fiemme, in the Trentino region that would become one of Italy's beating hearts for Nordic skiing.
"Val di Fiemme right now is the centre of the world," Nones said, noting that in an Olympics spread across multiple venue clusters, the valley's weight in the programme is striking.
"We will hand out 38 medals, a third of all Olympic medals," he said.
Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined will be held in Tesero, while nearby Predazzo will stage ski jumping.
In Val di Fiemme, the Olympics will follow three world cross-country championships - in 1991, 2003 and 2013.
"In 35 years I think very few nations, in a single location, have managed something like this," he said.
"And it all started with my gold medal".
Nones' early international promise came at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, where he finished 10th in the men’s 15 km.
Two years later, he confirmed his world-class status at the 1966 world championships in Oslo, taking bronze in the 4x10 km relay and placing sixth in the 30 km.
Then came the performance that transformed his career and Italy's winter sport identity.
As the first non‑Scandinavian and non‑Soviet athlete to win an Olympic cross‑country skiing medal, Nones earned lasting respect in Sweden, Norway and Finland, where he spent long periods training and competing.
He formed close ties in the Nordic skiing world, even building personal relationships with influential figures, including members of Sweden’s royal circle.
His connection to Sweden extended into his private life as well, as he married a Swede, Inger Berneholm. The couple shared both a family life and a professional partnership as they founded a company specialising in technical equipment for skiing and outdoor activities.
Nones said he has no formal role at Milano Cortina but is ready to help if called.
"Just pick up the phone and I'm here".
