“Hi beautiful!”. Lindsey Vonn happy as ever for a 14th place calls out for one Sofia Goggia perhaps never so aware and solid while being interviewed in the parterre of the Corviglia of St.Moritz. Friends and queens of the spotlight, even if they still win Cornelia Huetterthe Austrian who changed gear since the end of last season, orphaned by the Bergamo team (8th success, 5th in super-G). The 32-year-old Styrian takes advantage of the serious mistake at the end of the block Lara Gut-Behrami (2nd as in Beaver Creek, 93rd podium in the Cup where 16 years ago he achieved his first success), which however seems to have definitively put aside the knee and back pain and with Mikaela Shiffrin blocked due to the Killington injury he returns to the favorite for the Cup (-5 from the American on equal points with Goggia and 21 ahead of Federica Brignone).
The super-G-1 in St.Moritz, however, is also and above all the day of the return of the “old” queen, who retired almost six years ago after the last medal in the world downhill in Are, as well as of the intense blue.
Third consecutive podium
All that's missing is victory, but it's comingthe third consecutive podium in as many races since Sofia's return from yet another injury (5 February in training in Ponte di Legno: shattered right ankle) and four of the first six at the finish line bear the acronym ITA: behind Sofia in fact they place in the wake of a relaunched Elena Curtonithe fighter Federica Brignone and one Laura Pirovano which only needs a pinch of confidence to permanently enter the big leagues. «I'm sixth behind a group of Italians who are all very good… Who knows if one day I'll be able to take that step forward to get to the podium, but I don't have to focus on that: I'm satisfied with having improved compared to the first race of the season» says the 27-year-old from Trentino who is hampered by injuries. Brignone also speaks of trust. «I started with the right attitude, a couple of times I wasn't able to stay in time. This makes me a little angry because they are mistakes in trust. I don't find the right conviction, but it's a matter of putting all the pieces in place” says the Aosta Valley girl, fifth and beaten by a cent by Curtoniwhich puts behind him the accident a year ago (fractured sacrum) on this track. «The season started in a positive way – the Valtellina smiles -. A good result that gives me confidence in view of the next stages. Only the last step is missing. I just have to continue like this and believe in it, without being influenced by the thought of injuries, too many cents or anything similar.”
Search for perfection
Thoughts and problems that Goggia has no longer had for some time despite the continuous stop&gos. Including the last one, which brought her to the brink of retirement. But as soon as she put her skis back on, she was on the podium: second in the downhill and first in the super-G at Beaver Creek, third in the first of the two scheduled this weekend in St. Moritz, where she stood on the Cup podium for the 57th time, the 16th in the hybrid speed specialty. «I didn't ski very well, I felt more tense than last week, but that's okay: not all the donuts always come out with a hole – admits an always perfectionist Sofia -. It was not easy to understand the snow condition, with a very aggressive surface. I would need more time to adapt and after Beaver Creek I actually didn't put on skis except for a free field ride. Huetter was very fast everywhere, I was at times, in spurts: but after the injury I like to take it day by day. And three podiums in three races is absolutely not bad…”.
The girl from Bergamo returned the favor last weekend, when her friend Lindsey, as a trailblazer, immediately described the key steps of that super-G, which she later won. «She called me after my descent to get some information on the route – says Sofia -, but with number 31 she found a slightly more marked track. In these conditions she did a great thing, I'm too happy for her, to see her like this.” After all, just watch them brightly illuminate the parterre. As if time had stopped in that magical two-year period 2018-2019, which opened with the Olympic triumph of the Italian in Pyeongchang and closed with her fourth place in the wake of the American in the world championship downhill in Are. Almost a bow at the farewell step.
«I would have liked to ski fast like you, but I felt the ski flow fast and it's beautiful: I had a lot of fun» comments Lindsey speaking with Sofia, in front of the cameras. Then talk about those feelings re-embraced. «I was a little stressed and a little late with the timing. Let's say I forgot a couple of things… It was so hectic and I hadn't done it in a while. But it was so nice to feel the butterflies in your stomach at the gate again, the adrenaline pushing you through. Incredible, I forget this feeling.” Finally the promise: it's just the beginning, already today in the second match the American with 82 victories in the Cup is expecting a leap in quality. «I didn't want to risk too much, I was trying to finish with a good performance. I got what I wanted, I will definitely push harder”
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
