The 22-year-old talent admitted in an interview with sportnews.bz that he is enjoying his rise to fame, especially in German-speaking countries. At the same time, he added that success also has an unpleasant side.
“Recently I’ve been experiencing hate online, I’ve been getting a lot of bad news from haters,” he said in an interview.
He himself doesn’t really understand why he has earned such harsh criticism when he is experiencing the most successful period of his career. “People are obviously disappointed by my performances and expect a better ranking than just participation in the elite ten,” he explained.
“I’m quite popular now outside of Italy, especially in Germany. But I have to take a lot of criticism in my home country. I have no explanation for that. Maybe in a country where football overshadows everything, fans are only superficially interested in biathlon,” he speculated.
Currently the 14th man in the World Cup, this season he has already placed in the top ten in individual starts six times, twice even peeking into the elite five. And he makes no secret of the fact that he would like to be on the podium at the World Championships in February.
“A medal would be a dream come true. I want to fully concentrate and go to Oberhof with this goal in mind. But it won’t be easy. I have to give my best possible performance at the right time. Either way, I’ll give it my all. I can promise that,” added Giacomel.
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