From Bianzone, or connected to Bianzone through the same family, three sportsmen went on to reach the very top in the twentieth century: Nino Bibbia, Italy’s first winter Olympic gold medal in skeleton; his cousin Edy Bibbia, Italian runner-up in ski jumping; and Giorgio Scarlatti, a Formula 1 driver for Maserati. According to local historical sources, they were cousins—although not all of them were born in Bianzone. And that’s the very first thing you need to know.
Nino Bibbia, Italy’s first winter Olympic gold
Nino Alfio Bibbia was born in Bianzone on 15 March 1922. Then the family moved to St. Moritz, where he worked in the fruit and vegetable trade (not exactly the classic prelude to an Olympic champion). And it was there—almost by chance—that he discovered winter sports.
At the 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz, he competed in three disciplines: two-man bob, four-man bob, and skeleton. And it’s in skeleton, on the legendary Cresta Run, that the unpredictable happens: gold, with a time of 5'23"2, ahead of the American John Heaton and the British John Crammond.
Italy’s first gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics.
A victory that came after very little structured training. For him, sport was more a way of life than training. But throughout the rest of his career, he becomes a true legend on the Cresta Run: 231 victories, three world titles (1955, 1959, 1965), and more than two hundred wins in total. Even today, the St. Moritz track honours him with the Nino Bibbia Challenge Cup. In 2026, with Milan Cortina, the Museo Nazionale dell’Emigrazione Italiana and the FISI celebrated him again, and the Municipality of Bianzone has launched initiatives to keep his memory alive. He died in St. Moritz on 28 May 2013.
Edy Bibbia, the cousin who flew on skis
Very little is known about Edy Bibbia. But that doesn’t mean his story matters any less.
Born in 1921 in the Bianzone area, and raised largely in St. Moritz after his family emigrated, he shared with Nino a passion for skiing. His strongest, verifiable achievement—confirmed even outside local sources—is second place at the 1946 Italian ski jumping championships in Ponte di Legno, behind Giuseppe Muraro and ahead of Carlo De Lorenzi. Contemporary reports describe him as a revelation, with a style influenced by models from the other side of the Alps.
More details about his career (slalom, downhill, races abroad) remain, for now, only in local historical documentation, with no further confirmation. His life, according to the same source, ends in 1992.
Giorgio Scarlatti: from a Bianzone family, not by birth
Giorgio Scarlatti wasn’t born in Bianzone. He was born in Rome on 2 October 1921, and he died in Rome on 26 July 1990. His link to Bianzone is purely family: he was originally from the town, cousin to Nino and Edy, and he returned there regularly, with holidays at Edy’s house on Via Roma.
On the track, though, he went far. In the Formula 1 World Championship of 1957, driving a Maserati, he finished tenth at the Nürburgring, sixth at Pescara, and he took a championship point at Monza (twentieth place overall, equal position). He also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including in 1957 partnered with Jo Bonnier on a Maserati 450S, and in the Targa Florio, where in 1958 he took second overall with Jean Behra in a Porsche 718 RSK.
In the Mille Miglia, in 1956 he won his class in the Maserati A6GCS. In 1957, with the Maserati 300S, he finished fourth overall.
Cousins, near and far
The relationship between the three remains one of the nicest elements of this story. They were cousins of sorts—cousins “at a distance”: not close-blood brothers, but part of the same big small-town family.
However closely—or not—their bloodlines were connected, one thing is certain: from a small town like Bianzone, within the same family circle, there emerged an Olympic gold medallist, a ski jumping star, and a Formula 1 driver. From places like that, it’s hard to find another.
We tell the story in video too
The story of Bianzone’s 3 sportsmen is featured in the seventh episode of Tra Radici e Segreti, the video series that brings together Calendario Valtellinese and Waltella Vibes.
If you want to watch the reel again, you can find it on our YouTube profile
