Anita Gulli believes in the new slalom team: "Renewed staff and lots of stimuli, we can do well"

The Turin specialist is one of the references of the "Cortina 2026" group which, in fact, represents the base of the team that will face the entire World Cup season, starting with Levi's two races. Anita's sensations, not only on a technical level, she who as a physics student seeks direct application on her way of skiing.

Tuesday 8 November 2022 10 minutes reading time

Anita Gulli is preparing to start another year at the highest levels, after having made her debut at the World Cup (on the occasion of Cortina 2021) and at the Olympic Games, having been called up for the Beijing 2022 review, in the last two seasons in blue. The slalom racer born in 1998 is part of the national team that will begin the next World Cup on the weekend of November 19-20, with the two specialty races scheduled in Levi, she who belongs to the Army Sports Group and skiically was born on the slopes of Bardonecchia. Her debut in the European Cup in February 2017 in Bad Wiessee, while in the maximum circuit Anita's adventure began less than two years later, with the world premiere on January 5, 2019 in Zagreb. The women's blue slalom is working hard to return to high levels, the difficulties of the last decade and beyond are there for all to see, but the group of talents, from Peterlini to Rossetti up to Della Mea, Viviani, Tschurtschenthaler, Haller and the same Gulli (but there are also the very young Mathiou and Sola on the way ...), who form the national team called “Cortina 2026” thinking precisely in view of the upcoming Olympic Games, bodes well. Gulli herself underlines how everything has changed since last season, starting with the engagement of Roberto Lorenzi at the helm of the blue specialists after greeting Devid Salvadori. “All the staff has been renewed, in particular we are followed by some coaches who come from the men's team. On a technical level, it is a great stimulus, because during the training we are offered very demanding and hard tracks, so we are doing our best. Furthermore, at the organizational level, for the moment we have had good management and we have been put in the best conditions to work ”. And out of the ... slalom? Anita is a physics student and attends the state university in Turin. What does physics have in common with skiing? The Piedmontese binds her subject of study to Physics applied to the sport she practices. How? She explains it to us herself. “Every day after training we find ourselves in the afternoon watching the videos of the day, to understand the mistakes and what can be improved. There are some fundamental things to take into account in corrections: the goal is always to take as little time as possible to get to the finish line and physical observations can be made about it. Watching a video, for example, one of the first things you notice is whether from the pole onwards the edge grip is decreasing or increasing. Why is it so important? As in all sports, technique is very important, but for skiing it is a somewhat complex study, since this sport is practiced in always different conditions, such as snow, tracks and slopes. The technical gesture must therefore be as suitable as possible for the particular conditions. In general - explains Anita - the basic idea to be as effective as possible is to try to exploit two main factors: the force of gravity due to the steep slope and the elastic response induced by the deformation of the ski. To make the most of these two impulses, you must try to have a very short curve, in fact in order to reduce the radius of the curve, it is necessary to create a large deformation of the ski, which will create a greater thrust; if, on the other hand, the turning radius is increased, the thrust of the skis is lost, and it is said that "the tool is not used" and the skis are made to be deformed. Another fundamental thing is the moment in which this deformation is applied: if we consider the curve divided into two parts, the first in favor of the slope and the second against, the force of gravity pulls us towards the valley and if the deformation of the ski occurs in the first part of the curve, the thrust generated by the ski is also directed towards the valley and is added to the force of gravity. If, on the other hand, the thrust on the ski is impressed in the second part, the direction of the elastic response will be in the opposite direction to the force of gravity and speed is lost. On the track, keeping these two rules in mind means concentrating on pushing in the first part of the curve to be able to get out of the curve as soon as possible, free the constraints of the edges and take advantage of all the slope ”. Among her strengths, the blue slalomist defines herself as “a good worker, even in non-optimal conditions I try to commit myself and get the most out of what you find. Weaknesses? Sometimes I can be a little disorganized and I find myself tangled up in a thousand commitments and chores to attend to ”. There is also a “green” aspect in Anita's life, with the desire to safeguard the mountain environment that is screaming as it is already too late. “Unfortunately we are getting to the point, in fact this summer we experienced for the first time directly the effect of this immeasurable warming. Personally I think it is essential to engage in everyday life, because small gestures are important: in the city I hate to take the car and I always move by bike, I reduce unnecessary purchases to a minimum and for a few years, when I am at home I started to use platforms against food waste ". Now it's time for the slalom specialists to open, after the training that Gulli and her companions are carrying out in Val Senales this week. "On November 11 we will leave for Finland, for me it will be the third time on the Levi Black, a long track, to be interpreted, with the first part very easy and flat to be pushed, then the entry into the steep where you need to instead try to keep the pace, but without exaggerating because the error is around the corner ... ”.

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