Sofia Goggia, Elena Fanchini and the descent that went badly at the Mondiali- Corriere.it

She left the Courchevel-Meribel World Championships empty-handed, with the disappointment of not having brought home a medal that seemed obvious. I’m very sorry but what we don’t achieve doesn’t define ourselves. She has repeated it in these hours to those around her, Sofia Goggia she has already left France – while her teammates Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino will compete in the technical disciplines in the second week aiming for other podiums in the parallel and giant – and in her home Bergamo. He will spend two days of decompression after an event already charged with sporting tension and weighed down by mourning for Elena Fanchini. Elly, her friend and former National teammate, for whom she emptied all her tears before launching herself into the downhill world championship.

Sofia will then resume giant training to which she is dedicating a lot of time to build solid skiing (assisted by the new coach Luca Agazzi) capable of preserving her physique. The plan is to arrive intact and competitive in Milan-Cortina 2026. Finally she will leave again for Crans Montana, for the final sprint of the World Cup, with the Swiss downhill, the Kvitfjell one in Norway and Andorra. She has a clear goal in mind: to win back the specialty cup (ranking leader) that she has already raised three times. Come on, let’s take her home.

The disappointment for getting on the fork in the World Cup test will remain and it will take a while to metabolize it, but those who have seen it tell of a Sofia completely different from the one who had faced setbacks and accidents a few years ago. Cheerful and self-deprecating. she is happy to have remained standing, because that blow at 119 km / h against a door – with the ski crossing – could have had far worse consequences than the missed medal. She really risked getting hurt, in those dynamics – in addition to the impact in the fall – her knees are the most stressed part of her. When she reviewed the videos she breathed a sigh of relief. Sofia has matured compared to the moody girl of a few years ago, she always has her ups and downs, but she is aware that this empty passage will not change the skier she is. You mentioned Alberto Tomba’s flops at the World Cupbut she had many others in mind: Mikaela Shiffrin at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, the American, the most successful woman in skiing – one step away from equaling Stenmark’s absolute record – after silver in the super-G she had used the same words from Bergamo: But who said that I have to win by force?.

Leo Messi lifted the World Cup at 35. Everyone with the number ten on their back, and then we miss penalties… sang Sofia Nobody wants to be Robin by Cesare Cremonini. To move on to De Gregori, to the ’68 class of football: Nino don’t be afraid to take a penalty kick, it’s not from these details that he judges himself a player…. He’s right: penalties are missed only by those who take them. I want to ski free and serene, looking for the best part of myself.