Olympics, Beijing, Goggia ok in test: ‘Proud to be here’

The usual ritual starts, only slower, more experienced than usual: a fist on the heart, a fist on the forehead, sticks out of the gate. Then Sofia Goggia went out and did what seemed impossible three weeks ago, and that she instead dreamed so much: take part in the first test of the Beijing Games descent, on the “Rock” that will host the competition on Tuesday. It went well. Time matters little or nothing – for the record, she finished 12th at 1 “55 from the best, the Swiss Priska Nufer -, partly because in the first test of a descent on a track that no one knows this applies to all of them, partly because Sofia needed something else: to find the feeling again, to feel that she can trust the left knee injured in Cortina – microfracture of the fibula head, partial injury of the cruciate -, to feel like a descender again.

“Building the descent”

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His smile upon arrival, bordering on emotion, said a lot. The rest will be said in a mixed area, interviewed by all the TVs, agencies and newspapers in the world. “Relief? More than anything else I am proud to have managed to finish this test. There was no guarantee I was here, already this is a success, I see no reason why I shouldn’t be so happy. I liked the confidence I had in the gate. I was wondering what it would be like to be up there, since I was only able to do a little bit of super-G training. The descent is something else. The tactic is to build the descent. I just wanted to feel good in the boots and energize the skis. It was a good test, I’m happy with the way my leg feels. I just feel a little bit of pain every now and then somewhere. I can’t say I’m healed, I have to manage myself. For me, however, the Olympic Games are everything, they are the place where I want to be to achieve my dreams as a child. There is no place I would like to be more willingly, no matter how I am. How did I come to believe it? Luckily, I’m surrounded by people who always thought I could do it. Thus, nothing is impossible. Every now and then you have to believe in yourself more than anyone else would. On a scale of 0 to 10 I feel ready 5.5 “.

The miracle

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With one day of crutches you lose a week of training. I threw away the crutches three days after the injury, usually ten are needed. But I only had ten days to do everything. My strong point is the strength of my muscles, of my legs, which is why I am able to do those “tiger lines” in the race. I don’t have them at the moment, but I will give everything I have. I continue to work, the strength is returning, we hope that three days will be enough “.

The blue ones

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In addition to Sofia Goggia, Nadia Delago is also sure of the place for Tuesday’s Olympic descent in Yanqing. This was confirmed by the same Val Gardena in the mixed area. There are therefore two bibs to be assigned, for which five blue are in the running. In alphabetical order they are Marta Bassino, Federica Brignone, Elena Curtoni, Nicol Delago and Francesca Marsaglia. They will play the seat tomorrow. The feeling, however, is that Marta Bassino is taking advantage of the tests in view of the combined on Thursday.

Margin

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So Nadia Delago: “I was a little agitated. When I saw that I had the 1 I was not calm, it is a new track for everyone. I think I did a fair test, maybe I missed two or three passes, tomorrow I’ll try to do better. The qualification? No, luckily I’m not there. The track is complete, it has a bit of everything, there are flat and steep sections, bumps and jumps. It’s a lot of fun, the snow and visibility are good. Sofia? I saw her well, I think she was happy too. You are glad you are here with us. She went down quietly, confidently. She didn’t risk it, she certainly has a lot of margin too. I also hope to have it ”.

Curtoni has fun

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Elena Curtoni is back on track after the disappointment of the super-G: “It will still take some time to overcome it. However, I am lucky enough to be back on skis, to be able to let off steam a little and have fun. Skiing is my favorite thing to do. Today the goal was to have a good feeling. It was not easy to start among the first, it was all a bit blind. But the feeling is good, I think I can polish the lines a little more, push a little more in many points. I’m confident. Tomorrow we will have qualifying, weather permitting, but I wanted to do well already in the first test. I think it will be clear who will have the best feeling. Here only medals count, they will compete for those who can play for them at best. Compared to the super-G, I liked the descent more. There are more movements, it is more varied. It’s beautiful, fun, but the track is what it is and you have to give the best with what there is ”. So Federica Brignone, fresh from seventh place in super-G: “The descent doesn’t seem interesting anymore. I was hoping for much better. There is only a more interesting passage at the top, we who went down first did not understand it well, we will have to study it. For the rest they are all corners without difficulty. The biggest difficulty is bringing speed, staying closed, working bumps and slopes. This is the thing that needs to be done. I don’t know if I made friends with this track, anyway. I’m in qualifying tomorrow so I have to make friends already, otherwise it’s over. Sofia? You do well to try to do the race. Downhill she was the best this year, if you trust her you can still win it ”.