The French Romane Miradoli (27) signed the first victory of her career on Saturday in the super-G of Lenzerheide (Switzerland).
How many stars! Mikaela Shiffrin on her right, Lara Gut-Behrami on her left, and tennis legend Roger Federer in front of her, come as a neighbor for a sunbath and a long session of selfies with skiers in heaven. Yet it was Romane Miradoli the star of the day, after a first victory full of panache in the super-G. It’s incredible. I still can’t believe it, such a beautiful day! I did not have great sensations on the first part, it turned, it hit, with little speed […] I felt late all along but I believed in it, despite mistakesshe said during a press briefing.
Overcome
a drama
and a wound
With bib number 8, the 27-year-old Frenchwoman took all the risks to set the best time, almost failing several times on a turning and difficult stage fright which brought out fourteen skiers. While she had never done better than 5 on the world circuit, Miradoli put an end to seventeen years of shortage for French skiers in speed and the success of Ingrid Jacquemod on the descent of Santa Caterina (Italy) in January 2005. As for the last super-G victory, it was the work of Carole Montillet Haus im Ennstal (Austria) in February 2004.
The skier from Flaine (Haute-Savoie) is rewarded for her tenacity after having been able to recover from several events: a personal tragedy in 2016 with the death of her companion in a wingsuit accident, then in December 2020 the rupture of a cruciate ligament left knee Courchevel. She only returned to competition a year later, three months ago. It’s the best reward, after all the hard work, it allowed me to rebuild myself. Physically I am stronger, mentally too.
This follower of adrenaline sports (paragliding, surfing, motorcycling, water skiing, etc.), multiple world medalist among juniors between 2013 and 2015, has been able to cultivate her versatility (downhill, super-G, glove, combined) and bounce back after the disappointment at the last Beijing Olympics in February (11th in the super-G, 13th in the downhill, exit during the combined slalom where she looked like she could be on the podium).
The Italian Federica Brignone, 9, won her first small specialty globe at 31 years old before even starting, taking advantage of the fault of her compatriot Elena Curtoni, the only one who could still overtake her. Ahead of 38 cents, the American Mikaela Shiffrin raised her head after the catastrophic Olympic Games (zero medals in six races, three outings). Her 11th podium of the winter allows her to take a 67-point lead in the general classification over her Slovak rival Petra Vlhova, only 18 on Saturday. Swiss Olympic super-G champion Lara Gut-Behrami finished 3.88 cents behind the Frenchwoman. Romane Miradoli therefore achieves a high-flying performance, before the last super-G of the season, in two weeks, Courchevel.
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