So many issues for the return of the women's Alpine skiing World Cup in Europe and in the Engadine, in this specific case. That is, in Switzerland. A now consolidated tradition, especially since the end of the 90s, while previously it was the males who competed more. Without forgetting, obviously, the World Championships of 1934, 1974 (historic for Italy), 2003, 2017 and, by regulation, also those of 1948 (actually Olympic Games, but until 1980 the Olympics in skiing alpino also had the value of a world championship).
The return of the queen Lindsey Vonn to the major circuit after almost six years, the very open challenge for the overall World Cup given the absence of Mikaela Shiffrin (and Petra Vlhova, who can however act as a balance when she is well), the great Italian female tradition in the Swiss town. All this and much more on the weekend menu with two super-Gs scheduled, the first today at 10.30am live on RaiSport and Eurosport/Discoery+.
St. Moritz, for one thing, is the third place in terms of number of victories (8) for Italy's women's World Cup, after Cortina d'Ampezzo (13) and Lake Louise (12), but it is the only place in which Italian skiers achieved a double (meaning first and second place) four times (1999, 2001, 2019, 2021). Sofia Goggia won us 3 times in the Engadine (one by a hundredth ahead of Brignone, in super-G; another after breaking her hand the day before, in the downhill), one Brignone, one Elena Curtoni. Clearly it is also the place where in 2008, in February, a 16-year-old Lara Gut, heading towards winning the European Cup, found her first podium in the World Cup on her debut in downhill (not absolute) on the major circuit; Lara who then in December of the same 2008, again in St. Moritz, would win the first of her 45 successes in the World Cup, in super-G, ahead of Fabienne Suter and Nadia Fanchini. Historical courses and recurrences, but it is right to remember that no athlete in the world in this sport (including men) boasts a higher differential between first podium in the World Cup (2 February 2008, precisely) and last for now ((15 December 2024, Beaver Creek) as Lara Gut. And in total there are 92! Of course, Lindsey Vonn could try to break this record, though with a retreat in between.
The forecast calls for cloudy skies with a few rays of sunshine here and there that could appear on Saturday. They are more problematic for Sunday. Skiing on the slopes was canceled yesterday due to 20 cm of fresh snow that had fallen. The track had been worked to its best after the downhill races in the European Cup a week ago, with the surface opened, wetted and then compacted. However, due to the aforementioned snowfall, we still had to intervene on the track. Lots of humidity yesterday, but the cold returned during the night. Marco Viale, Piedmontese, former Italian player, coach of the French, has inserted a fairly regular design, with some particular curves on the hill: you will arrive quite quickly and you will have to pay attention.
There will be 57 athletes at the start representing 14 nations, for the women's race n.54 in St. Moritz since 1971. Austria has not won since 2006, Switzerland has seen Lara Gut triumph three times, while Lindsey Vonn, bib n. .31, she won on 5 occasions with 10 podiums in total. There are many athletes who can do well on the Corviglia, a track with bumps, blind doors and no reference to trees or forests: from the aforementioned Gut to a Sofia Goggia in great shape, passing through Hütter, Miradoli, Lie, Puchner (already a winner here in the past) Ledecka, Brignone, Curtoni, Bassino, Rädler and many others.
Italy relies on ten athletes, including Asja Zenere at the first super-G race in the World Cup of their career: Federica Brignone, Sofia Goggia, Marta Bassino, Elena Curtoni, Roberta Melesi, Laura Pirovano, Vicky Bernardi, Nicol Delago, Asja Zenere and Sara Thaler.
Federica Brignone competed in St. Moritz for the first time already in 2010. She is in good shape and arrived in the Engadine a day before her teammates, also training in giant slalom. If he wants to compete for the general classification, he must definitely try to get on the podium on both days. «I really like Sankt Moritz because it is a varied and difficult track, it has many bumps and one corner is different from the other. There are doors that have a lot of rough edges and there may be a section where you can't see anything, like last year when it was really tough. It's completely different than Beaver Creek. In Beaver I couldn't ski the way I wanted on the downhill, I felt stiff. After the first test, perhaps I placed too many expectations on myself; in the super-G I had a good race, it was very easy, there was nothing difficult and I could have done better in the steepest part. But the attitude was positive,” he said via FISI.
Goggia instead won three times in the Engadine, as mentioned, with 6 podiums to his credit. «I am very happy with my return, we trained very well in Copper, I was aware that I had the speed necessary to compete; sometimes when you come back from an injury it's easier to face races lightly because no one expects anything from you, so you always have to have this attitude. Last year in Sankt Moritz I won in super-G, we hope to confirm this feeling with the Corviglia. We know it's a strange race, there are no references due to the many bumps, we will have to do a careful reconnaissance, focus on the steps to follow. I'll try to do my race, cross the finish line and then see what the scoreboard says. I did a few days of training in giant slalom, but I say that the work done in recent years on a technical level has remained; after Christmas we will go for a good session to prepare ourselves as best as possible on the hard snow, maintain the feeling and then return to the wide gates, in Kranjska Gora, at the beginning of January”.
Finally, Marta Bassino never reached the podium in St. Moritz, but she has good sensations after Beaver Creek, even if she suffered a muscle strain in her left thumb: «The giant slalom remains my favorite discipline, however I like super-G more and more. Over the years I have managed to put together one piece after another, for example in the flat part where I struggled for many years and now I feel much improved. I liked Beaver Creek a lot, it's a completely technical slope, we came from Copper where we trained well, now we're here without having skied since we returned to Europe, but it's not a problem. I really like the Corviglia slope, especially if it's sunny. Attitude will make a difference even more than in other races, because visibility can get much worse and because there are no reference points. The organizers are working on the track, so we will all be in the same conditions. I'm happy to continue with the speed, then we'll move on to the giant slalom for a bit during the Christmas break, before Semmering.”
