Barbara Stefanelli, deputy director of Corriere della Sera (photo by Carlo Furgeri Gilbert).
Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone, two young Italian women, two skiers and teammates. Not very young anymore (they are 31 and 33). But enough to keep having fun. And, above all, to discover and improve yourself.
The first, Sofia Goggia, a citizen of Bergamo, immediately established herself: powerful, extroverted, impetuous on the tracks and in front of the cameras, an icon for his athletic qualities and perhaps even more for his courage. Federica Brignone, Milanese but who soon emigrated to the mountains of Val d’Aosta, has long been “the daughter of” (of Ninna Quadrio, champion of the pink avalanche, and of her father, ski instructor and coach), tormented by the idea that in the family she was “the one with the least talent”, torn by performances below its possibilities and expectations to the point of contemplating retirement a couple of years ago.
The careers of Goggia and Brignone often intersected. Sparking on contact. Until some time ago, it was not uncommon to hear commentators describe them as irreconcilable rivals, or you love one or the other, or you’re on the side of the first or the second. After all, one of the most abused topos, when talking about women, is that of envy. The famous female envy that forces us to suspect before we even begin. Start playing, working, living.
How many times have they told you that we are not capable of “team building” compared to men? That “you always have to expect the worst from your colleagues”? A classic prophecy that, if you’re not on your guard, becomes self-fulfilling – and you yourself contribute to passing on an unnecessarily inflamed baton.
Sofia Goggia (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
The beauty of the Goggia – Brignone couple is that, season after season, they have arrived at a relationship of healthy competition, virtuous for both, beautiful to look at. The successes of one motivate the other, the style is further perfected, the times are lowered, the technical coefficient enhanced by the awareness and joy of being oneself. Sofia. Federica.
By the way: how many times have they told you that being competitive isn’t a good thing between females? Not “suitable” for female bodies and sensibilities, more inclined towards conciliation, towards soft lines rather than edges? Now watch them “come down”. Class and concentration, desire to do better, to overcome obstacles and curves following one’s own path. A path that you have in your muscles and in your head, that you know how to follow even if there is mist, wind, ice. Each for themselves, but without anxiety towards the rest of the world. If you are strong inside, no one scares you out there. Down with envy, therefore, long live the competition. Down with stereotypes, long live Sofia
Goggia and Federica Brignone. Let’s get in the wake.
Should another type of competition between women be considered or is the male model “worth”? Write to us at [email protected]. The column returns on January 20, 2024.
All articles by Barbara Stefanelli
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