Sofia Goggia: the turning point seems closer and closer

These are hot days for the ski market, as the always well-informed Race Ski Magazine points out. While the new technical directors of alpine skiing have yet to be made official, rumors are beginning to circulate about the future of Gianluca “King Midas” Rulfi. The technician originally from Cuneo, who has been in Genoa Voltri for some time now, has collected extraordinary successes with the women’s sector, but he may no longer be at the helm of the team.

The balance of Rulfi’s work at the helm of the Italian women’s sector speaks for itself: under his technical direction, Italian women skiers have reached levels of absolute excellence at world level. Rulfi himself, after Federica Brignone won her second overall World Cup, had commented enthusiastically, “So far she had also won little because of her talent, now she is reaping it all. She and Goggia are an example for all of them. You are not born this way, you build up over time, they are beacons for the whole movement.” Words that testify to her ability to enhance individuality without ever creating tensions within a group of female champions.

For Rulfi, therefore, no technical director position: his role could change. Whether we will see him working alongside Sofia Goggia remains to be seen. In this scenario, on the other hand, Luca Agazzi, who has been the Bergamo champion’s point of reference in recent seasons, may no longer be part of the team.

The bond between Goggia and Rulfi has strengthened over the years, well beyond the duties strictly related to the federal technical direction. Agazzi himself, in the course of their collaboration, had repeatedly stressed how the work was done “together with dt Rulfi.” A feeling that emerged clearly as early as January 2024, when, after her fifth place in Kronplatz that had broken a six-year taboo in the giant slalom, Goggia had declared, “I have to thank my coach Luca Agazzi, who took me and led me by the hand on this technical path together with dt Rulfi.” A concept also reiterated in January 2025, after her fifth place in the Kranjska Gora giant slalom, when the Bergamasque had wanted to specifically mention both figures: “I want to thank my coach Luca Agazzi with whom I have embarked on an important path under the supervision of dt Gianluca Rulfi.”

The season just ended further cemented the relationship between Goggia and Rulfi. The champion from Bergamo won the super-G World Cup for the first time in her career, adding a fifth specialty trophy to the four already won in downhill. It was a success that moved her to tears during the awards ceremony in Kvitfjell, where she had won the decisive race with a time of 1’29″23, 32 hundredths better than Corinne Suter. In the final overall standings, Goggia finished in fourth place with 982 points. At the end of the season, Goggia herself had said, “It was a challenging season. The expectations were very high because I committed myself in three disciplines. It was a very consistent season in super-G, while in giant slalom I sowed but did not reap.”

It should be recalled that Marta Bassino, another pillar of the women’s sector led by Rulfi, also experienced a troubled season due to the serious injury last October 22 – fracture of the tibial plateau of the left leg, with involvement of the medial collateral ligament and meniscus – which forced her to skip the entire competitive year, including the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. It was only at the end of March that the champion from Borgo San Dalmazzo returned to skiing, holding a rehabilitation session on her home slope in Limone Piemonte right along with Rulfi and coach Thierry Marguerettaz: a detail that underscores how much the Cuneo coach has remained an indispensable point of reference for his athletes even in the most difficult moments.

A possible transition of Rulfi to the role of Sofia’s personal coach would therefore represent a high-profile technical choice, but would inevitably entail a major void in the leadership of the national team. FISI will be called upon to carefully consider how to redraw the balance at the top of Italian alpine skiing, at a time when the Italian women’s movement has reached absolute levels of excellence at the world level.