Sofia Goggia, operated on after breaking her hand in St. Moritz. She will try to run the descent, the opinion of the doctors – Corriere.it

Evidence for another record recovery, definitely in the perimeter of miracles. Sofia Goggia despite the compound fractures to the second and third metacarpals of her left hand, a consequence of the impact against a block of ice – here’s the news: the post of a goal has nothing to do with it, which she then touched, but with the upper part of the arm – in the descent in which he finished in second place behind Elena Curtoni, I will try to be at the start of the second free ascent of St.Moritz on Saturday 17 December. The decision will be made shortly before the start, in the warm-up area next to the starting gate. Sofia had promised to do everything possible to be already on the grid after the conclusion of race 1: now what seemed like an exit dictated by adrenaline has margins of feasibility.

But let’s go in order. The blue champion at the finish line immediately had bad sensations (I broke my hand she said immediately; later she explained better: After the blow I felt that something had happened: on arrival I hardly moved my hand) and together with the staff his and that of Fisi wasted no time in defining things to do. That is: going to Milan (thanks to the helicopter that Red Bull has available for the athletes of its team of sportsmen), to be operated on immediately by Dr. Andrea Panzerireturn to the Engadine in the evening (always furrowing the sky) and show up at the starting gate of descent number 2. And then at that of the super-G on Sunday 18.

An extreme plan, which however remains standing. To begin with – and this is the good news on a day with surreal implications for Sofia – the perfectly successful operation, which took place at the La Madonnina Clinic: the team made up of the president of the Fisi Medical Commission, Andrea Panzeri, the hand surgeon Loris Pegoli and Riccardo Accept, head of the trauma unit of the Galeazzi hospital in Milan, worked on the reduction of fractures by inserting plates and screws in the injured hand.

I laugh to keep from crying ? pic.twitter.com/99vImYs5QV

— iamsofiagoggia (@goggiasofia) December 16, 2022

A brace was then prepared for the Olympic vice-champion in collaboration with Ortholab to protect the limb. Sofia returned to St. Moritz in the evening: as mentioned, he will decide only in extremis whether to take part in the second descent scheduled at 10.30 (a competition in which Elena Curtoni, who aims to repeat the success of Friday the 16th, Federica Brignone, Laura Pirovano, Nadia Delago, Nicol Delago, Karoline Pichler, Marta Bassino and Roberta Melesi are also registered). Sofia also released a short comment: I’m sorry, we didn’t need this mishap. The testing days had gone very well and I was ready to aim for the win. Unfortunately, contact with a block of ice before the third door caused me great pain: I understood that something was broken. However I look ahead, on Saturday I will decide whether to compete just a few minutes before the start. Don’t get overwhelmed by Dr. Panzeri: Now it will be important to understand how the night will proceed, how the pain will go and how it will feel in the morning. You have more than one type of protection, to be used on and under the glove for safety. We will see confirmation of your departure tomorrow morning based on a series of parameters.

Then Sofia dedicated a thought to Elena Curtoni, the teammate who managed to interrupt her unbeaten run in the downhill: I am very happy for her, I offer my greatest congratulations for the victory.

And now we just have to wait for the developments of another incredible story involving Sofia. On Tuesday 20 December in the Sky studios in Santa Giulia, the Olympic vice-champion of the downhill (as well as Olympian in 2018 and three-time winner of the Specialty Cup) will be present at the vernissage of the documentary film on the recovery that in just 23 days took her from the last January 23 in Cortina in super-G (a race that Curtoni won that time too due to the incredible intertwining of fate…) to participate in the Beijing Games with a lot of podium climbing. There could then be two miracles to tell: at the beginning of the year Dr. Panzeri coordinated the complicated phase of rehabilitation (that time the blue didn’t have surgery: going under the knife would have annulled the hope of being able to go to China), this time together with his colleagues he had to work quickly and thoroughly to create the conditions for an undertaking which, strictly speaking, would appear impossible.

Goggia might not even make it, but the mere fact that she wanted to return to the pearl of the Engadine proves that if there is only a handhold to hold on to, she will catch him: done like this, she always tries and probably the extreme ordeal (of any kind whether it is) motivates her to the fullest. Her story is full of sensational recoveries: to name just a couple, in autumn 2018 she broke her ankle but managed to get to the 2019 World Cup and win silver in super-G; the accident in Garmisch in 2021 prevented her from taking part in the 2021 World Cup in Cortina, in order not to prevent her from being ready for the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, where she felt able to regain the crystal globe of the downhill (which was hers without a shot being fired due to the cancellation of the test due to bad weather conditions).

In short, never be surprised by Sofia. So let’s get ready to follow his new adventure, remembering that in sport it’s also the record recovery from a physical problem that makes the history of an athlete. How to forget, always in skiing, Pirmin Zurbriggen
? In January 1985 he won two descents descending with a broken meniscus and then decided to undergo surgery immediately after his successes in Kitzbhel. It seemed like a farewell to the World Championships in Bormio, which were to be held in February, but the Swiss champion not only showed up at the starting gate a month after the crash, but he won gold both in the combined and downhill. Well, Pirmin’s pasta is the same as Sofia Goggia’s. So, we look forward to it.