Alpine Skiing
Fisi Pentaphoto
After almost two weeks of nightmare experienced by Italy at the World Cup in St. Moritz with the only medal, moreover bronze, in giant raccattata from Sofia Goggia, the next two weeks of the World Cup, with eight podiums put together by men and women in ten races, it was the richest in satisfaction of the entire season.
Monday 6 March 2017 11 minutes reading time
A performance gap so large it is difficult to explain, even for a nation like ours whose alpine skiing athletes historically suffer the manifestations with medals, although it must be said that in the Engadine there was no one who these great events not betray almost never, namely Christof Innerhofer. Some great expert that during the World Cup sang the de profundis for alpine skiing Italian and wrote that the blue technicians are all clueless, unable to renege on an assertion of this kind has found, for this very high performance of the World Cup after he yielded to 'Italy four wins and four second places, an explanation at least curious, and that is that Italians have been favored by the soft snow, historically rather from the blue hated teams, even from today.
Instead, we prefer to think of a great reaction of pride on the part of some athletes after semifallimentari World, on all Peter Fill and Federica Brignone, but also Stephen Gross least as far as the crazy first run yesterday in Kranjska Gora, the best of his life, unfortunately not nearly repeated in the second. Fill after the World Championships also blew the first descent of Kvitfjell making overtaking at the top of a cup of which he is the holder by Kjetil Jansrud, but then in the second won the second place just behind the Scandinavian and in super-G that closed the Norwegian weekend has even won, which in this event had never been able to do in fifteen years in the White Circus. Now, with 33 points behind Jansrud and Dominik Paris literally disappeared, the 34 year old Castelrotto is the only one in Aspen can rip down the cup to Norge. It will not be easy, considering that Kjetil enough to finish second behind him, but Peter we must try.
As for Brignone, the Val d'Aosta, 26, with three top ten in the world championship race it was not so bad but missed the medal especially in Giant where she was fourth just behind friend and rival Goggia. His reaction was more than evident and no matter that it came on soft snow, Federica never loved as we repeat, from all the other blue. In particular its two runs of slalom in the two combined with super-G in Crans-Montana have been amazing and have earned a first and a second place, then yesterday was fourth in super-G in South Korea, his best result of the season in the specialty. In our humble opinion it will be difficult to see Federica yet on that level through the narrow doors and above all with consistent performance, but if I were to do it would mean that it would be competitive, that is, from the top ten, in at least four specialties, and top twenty in even counting all the way down.
Finally Goggia, the only along with Brignone which has maintained the same aggressive stance, even at the cost of making serious mistakes, in all races of the season that he played except, unfortunately, the super-G world champion in which he lost a huge opportunity. The snow of Jeongseon, where the Bergamo won his first two victories in the World Cup and finished with 11 seasonal podiums, it certainly was not hard but not as soft as that of Crans or Kranjska. If something may have favored the blue were the markings angled, and therefore suited to its technical characteristics of downhill skier able to go strong even in giant, is the descent by the head of the women's FIS speed Vuillet, both the super-G by the coach Feltrin.
Another factor that may have favored Sofia, and here we return to the great experts of the above, is the low level of women's alpine skiing. Now, aside from the fact that we hear that women's alpine skiing is low since we were in short trousers, that is always comparing it to the strength that has always had the men's Alpine skiing is definitely true statement but denoting a total lack of respect for the athletes competing. What they should do, refuse to race because there are so many of the best, or who were the best, injured or retired? And who tells us that these athletes injured and those who are now in the midst service, such as Lindsey Vonn still on the podium, being no coincidence that the greatest of all time, there is already more often, they will all be at their maximum strength in the Olympic Games next year?
So, by certain people that is always full of certainties that have no correspondence with reality or who have not yet, instead of saying that Goggia in two days beat for two times for a total of 11 cents the largest skier in history he prefers to explain its successes and Italy with the absences with the alpine skiing women's low-level and other factors unlikely, and that a year will be a different music because there will be all the stronger and all in great dusting. Then how come you have not won so much too early in the season, or the World Cup, when the absences were equally?
The truth is that, absences or absences, you have to adapt and give my best in every situation and not always our athletes fail to do so, especially in large events. And then it takes a little 'luck, as the few pennies that have separated Goggia and Vonn on weekends or, for example, the favorable climatic conditions found by Manfred Moelgg in Zagreb. Of course, seven wins between men and women are not very many compared to the exorbitant amount of podiums, 34, collected so far from Italy in the World Cup this season. No doubt you have to win more, although a number of successes as well not been reached during nine years.
In the case of Goggia then, being in fact the second full year in the Circus Rose, its lower experience than the opponent has certainly not helped to achieve victory before when we arrived but by now at least, having taken this weight it was more outside than from herself (or so he always told her), surely will ski more freely and with knowledge, in spite of who gives it up for dead already, they can do very well at next year's Olympics . And the rivalry with Brignone, with one that always wants to do better than the other and vice versa, can help to increase further the level and of course the same goes for Federica. If you come tenth in all Olympic events then going to bow in front of experts and recite a heartfelt and sincere mea culpa.
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