CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Born in Naples to an Italian father and a Colombian mother, 16-year-old Giada D'Antonio is the youngest athlete on Italy's ski team at the Milano Cortina Games and the only one from the southern region of Campania.
D'Antonio is seen as a rising star of the Italian Alpine squad, but her selection for the Olympic team has sparked debate, given she has never won any major races.
Having secured strong results in international races reserved for under-18 athletes, she took part in recent months in World Cup events in Semmering and Flachau in Austria, and in Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic without making much of an impact.
Maria Rosa Quario, a former Italian skier and mother of D'Antonio's teammate Federica Brignone, thinks D'Antonio's inclusion has come too soon.
"This girl has great talent, a fantastic future, and she has shown she is strong both technically and mentally. But she does not have the credentials to be selected for the Olympics," Quario told Italy's RAI Radio 1.
"It could even backfire against her," she added.
At the Tofane Alpine Skiing Area in Cortina, Giada will compete in the slalom on February 18, and she may also take part in the Alpine combined on February 10.
"BLACK PANTHER" NICKNAME
Born in Naples and raised in a town of 8,500 inhabitants beneath Mount Vesuvius, Giada inherited her passion for skiing from her father Fabio.
She first took to skis when aged only three on the slopes of Roccaraso in the Abruzzo region which serves as a centre for skiers from southern cities such as Naples and Rome.
At the end of last year, D'Antonio moved to Predazzo in the Trentino region of northern Italy to train more easily and avoid trips to events lasting as long as 12 hours.
Back home, her teammates at the Vesuvian Ski Club, to which she still belongs, nicknamed her "Black Panther", inspired by the superhero movie.
"I really like it...it represents who I am," she told Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport.
Her role model in skiing is American Mikaela Shiffrin, a double Olympic gold medallist.
"I admire her ability to be resilient despite everything she's been through. The injuries, the death of her father - she found the strength to react and come back," she said.
(Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by)
