Ski racer Sofia Goggia has postponed her journey to the Olympic Games because of her knee injury and will not carry the Italian flag at the opening ceremony in Beijing as planned.
Instead of the downhill Olympic champion from 2018, Michela Moioli, who also won gold in snowboard cross four years ago in Pyeongchang, is now allowed to bring the flag into the stadium, according to Italy’s Olympic Committee CONI. Moioli was actually intended to be the flag bearer of the closing ceremony.
Goggia suffered a serious knee injury on Sunday in Cortina d’Ampezzo’s Super-G: torn cruciate ligament, sprained knee, “small fracture” in the fibula. She refrains from an operation and hopes to be able to start with physiotherapeutic treatments in Beijing after all. The departure in China is scheduled for February 15th.
The outgoing Italian President Sergio Mattarella wished the exceptional athlete a speedy recovery, as reported by CONI boss Giovanni Malagò. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for her,” said the politician, for whom a successor is currently being sought.