Alpine Skiingthe triumph of faith
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Federica Brignone's thoughts, the day after the conquest of the World Cup. A letter that expresses many emotions ...
Thursday 12 March 2020 9 minutes reading time
Waiting to understand when (and how) to return to Italy, Federica Brignone entrusted to a long letter her thoughts in the "day after" of the conquest of a historic World Cup for the Italy of skiing.
Here it is in an integral way, with a lucid and profound analysis, but also many emotions. “I managed to win my challenge in sport! Together we will win this very difficult challenge against Coronavirus. I realize now that in the interviews released on Wednesday I was unable to express what I was feeling, but the news of the cancellation of the Are races and consequently the conquest of the general classification sent me in total confusion. At that moment I just wanted to disconnect to release all the tension of the last few months, always thinking about competitions, training, to stay focused on the objectives. We found ourselves in an apartment with the rest of the team, we ran out of food supplies that should have lasted three more days and we had a party among us. At midnight then a spaghetti garlic oil for those who were still hungry!
Twelve hours later I feel more lucid, even if I have to pack my bags, answer a thousand questions and understand how to go home. Winning the general cup was a dream, my biggest dream. Like many other ski athletes, I have always thought that a World Cup has more value than a world or Olympic medal, because it rewards perseverance, skill throughout an entire season and not in a single day. My real goal, you all know it, has always been the giant cup, but in these days, in the last three races, I would have given my all also in parallel and in slalom to try to conquer the absolute one. I don't think that the cancellation of many races has favored me and disadvantaged someone else, on the contrary, I would have liked to do all the tests scheduled and even a few more. As for the prolonged absence of the Shiffrin I have no fault. Of course we couldn't stop because she was missing, very sorry for what happened to her, but even when someone is injured you have to go on, waiting for him to come back. I was very happy with the news of her return and I regret not having been able to challenge her again on the track.
I've done 25 out of 30 races this season, more or less the ones that take place in the winters of the big events, so I don't think we can speak of a halved cup. I made the Italian points record with a very high average in six disciplines and I finished among the first three in six rankings: the general, the giant, the combined, the super-g, the descent and the parallel. More than this...
The really big regret is that I could not be rewarded with the cups, nobody told me anything about it, I don't know where they are and when they will give them to us. I would have loved to hold the crystal ball in my hand, to raise it to the sky as I have seen many people dreaming of my moment. I wanted to celebrate on the podium with all my team, we also won the women's nations cup, we were great!
I have a lot of thanks to do and I start with my family, who taught me to live and never pushed me to be who I am. Davide, my brother, was fundamental, I believe he was the only one who always believed that I could win the World Cup and with this goal he helped me grow as an athlete and as a person. And then the team, which includes the companions, the men of my group Gianluca Rulfi, Marcello Tavola, Daniele Simoncelli, Gigi Devizzi and all the other technicians and doctors, without forgetting the people who work for me with passion and dedication behind the scenes: Giulia and Daniela Mancini, Federico Colli, Gianmarco Ideo, Roberto Greco, Valeria Dalla Libera. Without all of them I wouldn't have won anything.
And then Sbarde (Mauro Sbardellotto), my irreplaceable skiman, who with other athletes, and in particular Deborah Compagnoni, had already won everything in his career, but not an absolute World Cup! I would also like to thank the Federation, the Carabinieri, the Coni and the sponsors without whom I would not have been able to work as I did every day. Thanks also to my friends, those of all time, who jump through hoops to see me even just a few minutes. And finally thanks to my fans, to my fantastic fan club, I receive positive energy from them and the charge to never give up. I hope to be able to celebrate with them this season soon, I hope to see and touch my cups soon, as said at the moment I have no news on when and how they will deliver them to me.
Now a look into the future. Just because of the way this season ended, I already feel like I want to start training again. To confirm what I did, aware that it will not be easy to repeat myself, but the emotion of holding a world cup in my hand listening to Mameli's anthem sooner or later I really want to try it! I'm going home, I know what awaits me and all the Italians. Unfortunately in this difficult moment I will not be able to continue to do my job, the rivals will train and ski again, we Italians will not, we will not even be able to go to the gym. But in any case I feel lucky, because I live in the Aosta Valley and from the window I can at least see the snow and the mountains. It will be a good opportunity to tidy up the house and find the right place to put the cups when they arrive.
A greeting and a hug to all, THANK YOU very much for your support â€.
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