Milan Cortina, Federica Brignone smiles after the first round

Federica Brignone said she was very satisfied after the first downhill run on the Olympia slope of the Tofane in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the downhill race of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics is scheduled for Sunday. L’Azzurra clocked a time of 1:40.66 and was one of the last athletes to ski down after being interrupted due to fog on the upper part of the slope. The champion from Valle d’Aosta, returning after a long injury, did not push but glimpsed some excellent lines during the downhill.

The world champion at the microphones of Eurosport commented on her descent as follows: “I am happy. I made some mistakes, the snow was very soft and did not respond well underfoot. The jumps are a bit high, I tried to be soft and to stay on my feet. Something went well, something a little less” explained Brignone, who returned to skiing a few weeks ago after suffering a serious injury last April.

“I finished the rehabilitation and muscle reconstruction part. I am working normally now. I have to rest my leg after skiing, but I still have to work a lot in the afternoon and on confidence when I ski. The adrenaline is the part I missed the most”, continued l’Azzurra, chasing her fourth career Olympic medal (she has never managed to win a gold).

Brignone is fresh off a tough few months: “Even when I rejoined the team, I didn&#8217t allow myself even a moment of leisure with my teammates to do two more hours of physical therapy. To heal I gave one hundred percent – she told Gazzetta dello Sport – -I did almost everything myself, after years of experience I know what to do. With two exceptions: a hypnosis session, where the unconscious is working, and then I asked Giuseppe Vercelli, our sports psychologist, for a hand when it was time to put the skis back on.”

“I’ve already done four Olympics with three medals, I don’t need another resounding result to feel happy, I’ve gone far beyond what I could have dreamed of in my career. I would have liked to enter the San Siro, it was a sacrifice I would have gladly made, even if it meant taking a helicopter back to Cortina. But it will also be nice to parade with my team”.