Alpine Skiingwomen's world cup
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The Olympic descent in Sochi 2014, now commentator for RSI, passed the baton to the blue 4 years later. With a friendship story linked to an episode 6 years ago ...
Tuesday 24 December 2019 8 minutes reading time
It is the story of a special relationship, the one between two Olympic descent champions who saw one pass the baton to the other, through a friendship born from an episode of 6 years ago.
Dominique Gisin, commentator for RSI, interviewed Sofia Goggia on the occasion of the stage of Sankt Moritz who then saw the blue get the first seasonal victory in the super-g over the Engadine. A chat with friends, it can be said, since the Swiss (who two months after that episode won the Olympic gold ex-aequo with Tina Maze at the Sochi Games) made a gesture that Sofia will never forget.
"I had just broken my knee in Lake Louise, it was December 2013, and on the return flight with an economy ticket in my pocket, I saw Dominique, who I knew only by reputation, giving me his place in business class saying that it was right I would take it. " The story took place directly on live TV on RSI, in the parterre of PyeongChang a few minutes after the conquest of the most coveted title by Sofia, followed by a moving embrace between the two champions.
The interview of ... Christmas begins with the memories of the little Sofia who wanted to emulate the myths of blue skiing. “Of course, the first one you think of is Alberto Tomba, although seeing it from the female side I have always dreamed of becoming like Deborah Compagnoni. And in his period, I have many fragments of Isolde Kostner's exploits, then followed by Putzer and Karbon. With Denise I had the pleasure of meeting her at the end of her career, when I approached the World Cup ".
Italy is experiencing a great moment and according to Goggia “the country has returned to following skiing with great passion in these years, after that magical era. On a female level, Federica Brignone and I are the references, but obviously men have also done great things. Paris, Innerhofer whom I hope will recover soon, Fill who has done legendary things, but perhaps he has always lacked the charismatic part with which Tomba conquered the crowd.
Here, the Italian likes two things: the champions who win and also know how to get out of their role, but also to see the leader in them, knowing how to make a team and drive the movement ".
And to Dominique's question of whether Sofia's goal is in any way to emulate Albertone, the answer is particularly significant: "Not at all, I simply have a crazy discontinuity since skiing, in my opinion, is the '' expression of a person's character. I have peaks that perhaps nobody can have in the World Cup, and I can also do a 0-point weekend. I am like that even in life: crazy, wild, brave. Sometimes I ski perfectly, sometimes too controlled, you never know what to expect from me.
Sometimes I am bent on ego, at other times I behave in a very simple way and this contradiction of mine makes me feel very human by those who watch me on TV, this is what I perceive ".
Coming from a family that had nothing to do with skiing, “it was a good thing for the thousand positive aspects that mom and dad gave me - says Sofia - but in some ways it didn't play me in preparing my life as athlete, with the lack of a certain sporting culture ".
And then again the story of the personal diary: “The day after the victory of the Olympics, climbing the mountain, I wrote things that I never had anyone read, I only sent them with a voice message to my mother. Now I have a blog on the Red Bull website, but I always try to protect myself and I don't like to tell many things about myself, I don't want to feed myself to the people or to the teammates themselves ".
Cortina will be in Sofia's fate with the 2021 World Cup and the 2026 Games, after a season like the current one that Bergamo calls "a bit strange considering that I had always lived the last three years with the aim of world championships and Olympics. Among other things, I am a living paradox, because I am an Olympic champion and I have never won an absolute Italian title, despite having many silver and bronze medals. I would like a world title, then at home ...
The Milan-Cortina Games are far away and I would like to participate, but it will depend on a thousand factors: certainly contributing in a small part to the assignment, experiencing that magical team atmosphere in Lausanne was a crazy experience. One of the best memories of my life ".
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