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What is the real Lisa? The excellent athlete seen in the relay or the one who entered a deep crisis who struggles to get into the points or even qualify for the Pursuits? The difference in performance between individual races and team tests is huge, but there are some positive signs.
Saturday 22 January 2022 5 minutes reading time
In recent days there has been much talk of Lisa Vittozzi, first of the difficulties encountered in the Individual, perhaps the lowest point of the crisis in the shooting from the ground that seems to never end, and then of the performance in the relay. One wonders what the real potential of the twenty-six year old from Sappada is: the one shown in the relay races or that of the individual races?
Last week, in Ruhpolding, after failing to qualify for the Pursuit, finishing 85th in the Sprint, she was excellent (even in the ground shooting, where she used only one reload) in the relay, closing the fraction in the wake of Mars Roeiseland. In Anterselva the performance at launch was again positive. Despite some difficulties in the first series, he was able to limit the damage, then keeping pace with a prominent athlete like Alimbekava. In the standing series Lisa recorded a stunning shooting time: 16.5 seconds, after opening at 8.1. A performance not for everyone. Before the relay, however, there had been the painful notes of the Individual, perhaps the lowest point of the shooting crisis that has afflicted the Italian team for some time. The world vice-champion of Oestersund 2019 in fact closed in the extreme back of the ranking with twelve missed targets (5 + 3 + 2 + 2) and a penalty for not having completed the first series.
It is clear that the difficulty is first of all psychological, especially when approaching the first polygon, which has now become a chimera, and secondly technical. The problem is reduced in the relay where refills are available and where the blue is at ease, considering that even in the best moments of his career he has almost always been deployed at the launch, but the difference in performance is huge. In individual competitions, on the ground he shoots with 58.9% (compared to 86.7% standing and 72.8% overall), while in the relay it goes to an acceptable 78.1%. It suggests the fact that after the golden seasons in which he shot well over 80% on the ground, for three seasons he has fired below this threshold and closed 2020/21 with a worrying 70.5%.
Beyond the athlete's class, which is not in question, the difficulty is overt and has attracted the attention of the foreign media, which in recent days have used heavy words. But the sappadina does not give up: "There is a way to go to find myself in individual competitions, I have the character to do it, I know that I will be able to get out of this vortex and return to my level - he told colleagues of Fondoitalia ". In addition to the "number" carried out in the shooting time, the pace on skis also gives hope, with a condition that seems to be growing compared to the first part of the season. Tomorrow she will have a first test in the Mass Start, which in the first part, having similar dynamics to the first fraction of the relay, could be favorable to her.
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