Former slalom star Paolo De Chiesa survived only by a miracle. © Instagram

Shot by his girlfriend: The drama of the ski hero

A former slalom star of the Italian Valanga Azzurra has revealed a shocking incident that happened during his career.

19 January 2026

From: det

He's a skiing legend in Italy, having racked up twelve World Cup podium finishes in his slalom career and later making a name for himself as a TV commentator for RAI. But now Paolo De Chiesa has recounted a terrible episode from his life. The 69-year-old from Piedmont narrowly escaped death some time ago: His now ex-girlfriend shot him in the face with a pistol.

It all happened in the late 1970s, when De Chiesa was at the height of his sporting career. "I had been in a relationship with a woman from Cortina for four years, but our love was coming to an end. I only found out later that she was having an affair with a motocross rider. One evening we were visiting friends near Busto Arsizio," De Chiesa said.

Paolo De Chiesa was one of the slalom heroes of the "Valanga Azzurra". © ukn

“At the table,” the former slalom skier continued, “there was also a man I didn’t know. Suddenly, this man put a pistol on the table. I told him not to do anything stupid and to put it away. Then my girlfriend took the pistol and asked me, ‘Are you scared?’ I think she had been drinking, maybe even smoking. At that moment, the hostess called me over, I turned slightly to the side—and that saved my life. Because that’s exactly when my girlfriend shot me in the face.”

"I survived as if by a miracle." Paolo De Chiesa

A shocking event that De Chiesa survived only by sheer luck. "The bullet pierced the left side of my neck and lodged in the wall. It was only 15 millimeters from my carotid artery and 14 millimeters from my spine. I survived as if by a miracle," said the former skier.

Return to the slopes and the podium

“This event changed my life,” De Chiesa explains. “For years, I asked myself many questions. Why did the guy bring the gun? Why was it loaded? Why did my girlfriend shoot me? Why didn’t anyone help me? Why didn’t anyone apologize?” De Chiesa decided against filing charges. “I didn’t want to ruin her life the way she ruined mine.”

De Chiesa was absent from the ski circuit for more than a year, officially due to a nervous breakdown. "It was terrible, the pain, the shock. I could barely speak or sleep, let alone train." Despite this, De Chiesa managed to overcome the trauma – and three years after the horrific incident, he returned to the World Cup podium. The slalom hero also found happiness in his personal life and is now the father of two children.