Sofia Goggia and well-deserved relaxation after a tough season
For Sofia Goggia, too, the well-deserved relaxation has arrived after a very hard season, in which she showed her talent by winning a very precious bronze medal at the Olympics in Milan Cortina (a metal that allowed her to complete her wonderful collection, after the gold in PyeongChang and the silver in Beijing) and taking her to the top of the world rankings in the super-G, where she lined up all her rivals and lifted for the umpteenth time the much coveted crystal ball, her first in this specialty.
A triumph, the one in the super-G, that was the fruit of a nervous and characteristically exemplary comeback. The Bergamasque had experienced weeks of great tension, especially after a weekend in Val di Fassa in which she had come in 84 points ahead of New Zealand’s Alice Robinson but had failed to express her skiing. The decisive race came in Kvitfjell, where Goggia stopped the stopwatch at 1’29″23, 32 hundredths better than Corinne Suter and six tenths ahead of Kira Weidle Winkelmann, while Robinson missed the decisive sections of the Olympiabakken, finishing 2″41 from the winner. In the final specialty ranking, Sofia finished with 549 points against her rival’s 386.
Goggia herself spoke with great sincerity about the emotions she experienced in those hectic days: “I was under pressure, especially inside my head, so much so that I was afraid of not making it, of making a mistake like in the Olympics. I took two risks but mentally I freed myself. Now I have this Super-G Cup that I will put alongside the four downhill events and for a sprinter who wants to be complete it was very important to win it.” The tears she shed during the award ceremony told better than any words the emotional weight of an entire season.
With this fifth crystal ball – the first four conquered in downhill in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 – Sofia rises to a total of 29 World Cup successes, 19 in downhill and 10 in super-G, confirming herself as the second most successful Italian racer in history behind Federica Brignone, who is stuck at 37 victories. The champion has already let it be known that in the coming months she wants to take a complete break: “I want to take a month and a half to live my life and detach myself from my work,” she said, promising fans a return to the snow with renewed energy.
As the season came to a close, Goggia also participated in Elly Fanchini Day, the touching charity day organized at Passo del Tonale to remember Elena Fanchini, now in its third year. Together with other great protagonists of Italian skiing such as Federica Brignone, Laura Pirovano and legend Deborah Compagnoni, the champion from Bergamo wanted to be there to honor the memory of her companion who passed away in 2023. “It is a day to which we all come super gladly,” said Sofia. This was the third edition of this memorial to Elly Fanchini, who is a companion who gave us so much both on the slopes and outside in life, so it’s a nice opportunity to see us all, remembering her.” More than six hundred people took part in the non-competitive giant slalom race, on a day that closed with a charity auction whose proceeds will go to cancer research.
