Gioia Bassino: “I’m back to doing almost everything, proud of these months”. The Azzurre also set off on the Ushuaia mission

Ushuaia is becoming increasingly Italian these days, with the arrival in Argentina of the women’s World Cup giant slalom team, with the exception of Martina Peterlini, who is still having to manage her recovery five months after knee surgery, and the quartet made up of Marta Bassino, Sofia Goggia, Elena Curtoni and Laura Pirovano.

Federica Brignone remains in Italy for now, working in the gym, and will have to decide whether or not to make the journey overseas. Her decision will also depend on the possibility of having the plate removed from her left tibial plateau, as Sofia Goggia did just over two years ago after her first, extremely painful attempt on the slopes following her return from injury in Ponte di Legno. For the two-time Olympic champion, the situation is less serious than Sofia’s in summer 2024, but, as she herself revealed, the Cervinia test did not go as she had hoped.

The positive news comes from Bassino. As she said on social media yesterday before leaving for the Land of Fire, she approached 2025 with new equipment and did excellent work before suffering the knee injury in Val Senales (and returning to skis as early as the end of March, beginning testing in Limone Piemonte). She has made progress this spring and summer, perhaps even beyond expectations, and will be able to complete an almost full training block in Ushuaia. “I’m very proud of my little knee and of the work we’ve done over these summer months,” said the two-time world champion from Cuneo. “Day by day and week by week, I have (almost completely) returned to doing what I took for granted my body would be able to handle.

A single-leg hop, running a lap of the track, a squat with 90 kg. Small steps and ‘levels unlocked’ as the mood of our training sessions.”

Preparation on the Argentine snow is already in full swing for the Italian giant slalom team. As for the men’s national team, let us recall that the speed specialists will leave in the first days of September, heading directly to Chile to train at La Parva. The ten-member group is led by Alex Vinatzer and Luca De Aliprandini, and yesterday, too, at the end of their first week of training, they took to the slopes in light snowfall, finding the South American winter conditions that are certainly helpful at this stage.