Italcici loses a junior world champion: Henri Battilani retires from competition

Just 26 years old and after the crusader crash last February, the Aosta Valley sprinter decided to say enough. For him 19 bibs in CdM and a points finish, but above all that world title of descent in 2015 ...

Wednesday 22 July 2020 4 minutes reading time

From the veteran to a young man who promised a lot, but was repeatedly held back by injuries and problems. From Peter Fill, who announced his retirement from competition in Kitzbuehel last January, to Henri Battilani who also announced his farewell to skiing. As colleague Andrea Chiericato reported on today's edition of "La Stampa", the sprinter from Valle d'Aosta has raised the white flag after the last difficult months. Battilani, born in 1994, had every intention of trying again after the rupture of the anterior crusader of his right knee, suffered in Sella Nevea last February in the European Cup super-g on the Friulian snow; the blockage caused by the pandemic, however, substantially prevented him from being able to operate on the joint, thus postponing intervention and rehabilitation for weeks and then months. The subsequent exclusion from national cadres, which took place in May when the FISI house was chosen, did the rest. A pity, if we think that in the 2019/2020 season, Henri had still been able to get on a European Cup podium (the second of his career on the continental circuit), with the place of honor in the second descent of Wengen, in the day of the brace signed together with the winner Davide Cazzaniga. At just 26 years old, the Italjet lost a highly anticipated talent, especially after that triumph in the descent of the 2015 Hafjell junior world championships; a few months earlier, Battilani had made his World Cup debut in the Lake Louise super-g (30 November 2014), and then collected between stops various 19 chips in the maximum circuit, with a points placement in March 2016 in Kvitfjell, with the 28th position in the Norwegian descent. The last race in CdM, therefore, will remain the first of the two descents of last season in Bormio: it was December 27, 2019. As reported by the same Chiericato, Battilani will remain in the world of skiing thanks to his role in the Army Sports Center and to the ability to train the boys of the Asiva team immediately, already on the track in these days for the first meeting on the snow in Plateau Rosà. Good new life, Henri.

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