Marta Bassino enjoys the eighth round of the parallel.

The words of Marta Bassino

Marta Bassino fluently won the qualification for the women’s parallel rainbow race at the Stade Emile-Allais in Courchevel. The Cuneo native of Borgo San Dalmazzo, the reigning world champion, achieved the second best time on the red course (+0″29), behind Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund, another specialist in the discipline, leading with a time of 33″40.

“It was important to qualify,” Bassino told in the post-race, “and to start to get going with this discipline that is always a bit particular, because having very narrow gates you have to get going quickly. I am very happy, the snow here is very nice. Clearly I will try to do my best, however, as I said, I find the parallel very useful as a propaedeutic to the giant because I think it really helps me a lot, to try to push hard. When we are competing, the parallel really makes you bring out everything, given the opponent on the side, it makes you put your whole self into it. I didn’t feel so much pressure before the World Championships, although winning gold in superg helped relieve it; I really care about the races that are to come, so it’s not the medal that makes me relax, on the contrary, that’s exactly why I still expect something good from myself.”