Ivana Trump

We talk travel with the model, entrepreneur and former Olympic skier, 59

“LIFE FOR ME REVOLVES AROUND travelling – I’m constantly whizzing about. My main base is in New York, but I spend a great deal of time in London for the social season, when I attend Ascot and Elton John’s charity ball. The rest of the year is spent in St Tropez, Aspen, Dubai and Palm Beach.

“I feel very grateful that I’m successful and can afford to do this, but it’s all quite different from when I was young, when we didn’t have anything. Every summer, I would go away to Croatia for two weeks with my parents and just remember waterskiing the whole time.

“When I was 19, I was selected for the Czechoslovakian Olympic Ski Team, so I would spend the summer training on the glacier at Monte Rosa, near Cervinia, Italy. We had to get in enough practice before the world cup season started at the beginning of November, with the International Criterium of the First Snow in Val d’Isère

“We would all go up to Plateau Rosa and ski as much as we could, before it got too hot and slushy in the late morning. When the conditions weren’t right, we’d race down into town for dry training and run and jump around like maniacs. It was a tough regime, but I loved it. If you’re going to be successful at anything, business or sport, you’ve got to love what you do.

“Now sailing is my main passion. I have a 30ft boat and travel all over the world. But I did once have a rather nasty experience one morning sailing in Corsica, when a tourist boat drove right into mine and made a huge mess for both of us. I was actually on another boat at the time and saw the little boat heading for mine with my husband, Rossano, fast asleep on deck. He didn’t see it coming at all, so I screamed and screamed. He woke up and got out just in time. I was terrified. Needless to say, we found out later the captain was quite drunk.

“Of course, that still doesn’t compare with my worst holiday ever in Aspen, Colorado, in 1989. It was reported in every newspaper the world over, and was when I found out my marriage to Donald was ending. Marla Maples, his future wife, and I had a big confrontation and it was a very distressing time for me. It was the worst Christmas, but luckily it hasn’t put me off skiing.”

INTERVIEW: SIAN THATCHER