It’s as if Federica Brignone had put the tiger she drew on her helmet into the engine: first in Mont Tremblant, the giant is no longer the business of Lara Gut-Behrami (undefeated in the two previous races between the wide gates) or even of other contenders to success in the Canadian location. It is not from Petra Vlhova, who was about to score the coup but who in the end lacked 21 cents to triumph, nor from Her Majesty Michaela Shiffrin, someone who could not be satisfied with fifth place in the opening heat and who in fact thundered on her own , if only to climb up to third place and score the 141st podium of his career.
In a World Cup that continues to leave the sprinters at a standstill (the second men’s downhill at Beaver Creek was also cancelled, on the Birds of Prey they will try again today in the super-G) it is the first victory of the season for Italy, which also sees Marta Bassino in sixth place and above all in seventh place Sofia Goggia, now fully relaunching the specialty which launched it at a high level in 2016. Federica, who in the meantime has become an excellent super giant slalom (the last first place was last January 23 in Sankt Anton), had not won a giant slalom since March 20, 2022, in the pre-World Championship in Meribel.
The previous success in the discipline dates back to 2020, in Sestriere. This feat is therefore a return to the past, giving the Aosta Valley girl her twenty-second victory in the Cup and a draw in the endless head-to-head with Sofia Goggia at the top of the all-time ranking of the Italian skiers. Perfect first heat, overtaking, albeit slightly, Sara Hector, the one who stole the giant’s gold from her in Beijing 2022. Second tackled without fear and without the “short arm” that sometimes betrays: Brignone seemed to drift on a trap curve to the left which was the caudine fork of many, but in reality there she placed the fundamental brick of the enterprise. And she “vitaminized” the 46 hundredths of the intermediate time up to the 62 of the halfway point: only a bad mistake would have taken away the record, but Fede managed it with acumen and authority. This time it had wings. And a tiger in the engine. «I was very satisfied with the result of the first run, however I didn’t feel as good in the second, even though I liked this snow. Unlike what happened last week in Killington, everything has changed here. The giant slalom is my first specialty, then came the successes in the other specialties, but the wide gates remain a discipline to which I am very attached. I really wanted to get a good placing, I had never won in Canada.”
On Sunday 3 December we repeat: we are authorized to think without limits, not only with her but in the name of an Italy that has everything to transform itself into Great Italy.
2023-12-02 20:58:23
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