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Field hockey, Azzurre da sogno: historic qualification to quarterfinals

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Storic result for the’Italy women’s ice hockey team that flies to the quarterfinals of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic tournament at the end of an intense and hard-fought challenge against Japan. A very heavy success, the second from three points in the round, which is worth the access among the best eight teams in the world.

Andrea GussoniLindsey Vonn, tremendous fall and end of Olympic dream in Cortina: photos

Lindsey Vonn falls after very few seconds in the downhill on the Tofane Olympia at Milan-Cortina 2026.
Thus ends the attempt to rewrite history by the champion. Astonished audience.
The race is immediately stopped after the fall of the American champion.
She closes in tears the dream of winning an Olympic medal at 41 years old.

Vonn aimed to overtake compatriot Breezy Johnson, in the lead up to that point.
Started with bib 13, she chooses a very high line at the'entrance of the first crossbar.
He hits a goal with his right shoulder, loses his balance and falls ruinously.

The'impact takes place on the'Olympia of the Tofane, a track where he had already triumphed twelve times in his career.
The screams of pain of the champion break the silence of Cortina.

In previous days she had revealed the complete rupture of the cruciate ligament in Crans Montana.
The'injury had occurred in the'last World Cup race before the Olympics.
The first responders arrive immediately on the track after the fall.
Vonn is immobilized and loaded onto the toboggan by rescuers.
The'helicopter transports away the American champion from the Tofane.

Matilde Fantin’s doubles, Kristin Della Rovere’s goal, Gabriella Durante’s decisive saves and, above all, the choral performance of a compact and determined team allowed the Azzurri to get the better of a national team of great tradition, sixth in Beijing 2022 and seventh in the world ranking, compared to Italy’s 17th place on the eve of the tournament.

Excited FISG President Andrea Gios: “The qualification of our women’s national team to the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament is worth as much as a gold medal in another discipline. Getting into the best eight teams in the world seemed an impossible goal until a few months ago, but instead we achieved it thanks to commitment, vision and serious and structured programming”.

“The credit goes first and foremost to our girls, who have honored the blue jersey splendidly, and to the work of the Federation, which has believed wholeheartedly in a special project dedicated to women’s field hockey and which today reaps concrete results. A huge satisfaction to be shared also with the Italian clubs, which have supported the national team with great willingness, sometimes even at the cost of sacrifices”, added the number one of ice sports.

“The hope is that this result, achieved in an Olympic context of absolute prestige, will contribute to a growing understanding of how field hockey is a sport of great value, capable of offering opportunities, emotions and positive role models to girls as well, on a par with what happens in the male sector. A path that shows how investing in women’s sports means investing in the future of the entire movement,” Gios concluded.

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