The biathlon winter 2021/22 is certainly not one of the highlights of Federica Sanfilippo’s career. The former world championship fifth in the sprint had to fight for her place in the Italian World Cup team and only finished 72nd in the overall World Cup. In view of the rather manageable national competition, it was surprising that the 32-year-old was booted out before the current season. In terms of sport, however, this has apparently opened up a new perspective.
During Sanfilippo’s compulsory biathlon break, the Italian tried her luck in cross-country skiing and even won a sprint race in the second-rate Alpen Cup. As a reward, the native of Ridnau can now compete in the prestigious Tour de Ski. Sanfilippo makes her debut in the cross-country skiing World Cup at the start of the tour in the Swiss Münstertal.
“I’m really excited and I’m looking forward to it. My goal is to pass the qualification and get into the final of the top 30,” the two-time relay winner in the Biathlon World Cup comments on this step to “sportnews.bz”.
However, the change is not permanent: “But I have to make it clear right away: I’ll only be there for the first race, after that I’ll drop out,” Sanfilippo said. Originally, a start with the cross-country skiing elite was even planned for mid-December in Davos, but Sanfilippo focused on returning to the biathlon circus and competed in the IBU Cup in her home country.
Obviously a good decision: in Ridnaun she won the sprint and took second place in the pursuit. Results that suggest a return to the Biathlon World Cup soon.
However, Sanfilippo does not rule out the possibility that she will double-track more often in the future: “If other options arise, like cross-country skiing now, then I certainly won’t say no. If that can be combined, I can also imagine driving double-tracked In any case, cross-country skiing opened up an additional door for me.”