Milan Cortina 2026, former champion fierce with young Italian skier: "She should have been left at home"

Just a few days before the lighting of the Olympic braziers in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Ninna Quario&#8217s words regarding the convocation, in the Italian women&#8217s alpine skiing team for Milan Cortina 2026, of the very young Giada D’Antonio, a 2009 athlete, are bound to make a lot of noise. In fact, the former Azzurra, Federica Brignone&#8217s mother, was not tender with the coaches who decided to take the 16-year-old, who participated this year in three World Cup slaloms without passing in the second run, to the Olympic Games.

“I do not want to fuel controversy, but I do not agree with this choice – Quario said, bluntly, during an interview with Rai Radio 1 -. We are talking about a very talented girl, with an important future ahead of her, who has already demonstrated technical and mental solidity. However, I do not think she has the credentials for an Olympic call-up and the risk is that this decision will turn into a boomerang. In the competitions she has competed in so far, comparing herself with the other athletes on the European Cup team, she has never been able to top them”.

Francesco Lucivero

.

“Why bet on her and not on a 2002 class? Sports should be the clearest example of meritocracy. Maybe she will surprise us, but at the moment I have a hard time agreeing with this choice” concluded the former skier, fueling the debate on the technicians’ choices for the Five Circles event, which will see the alpine skiing competitions scheduled between Feb. 7, with the first medal awarded being the men’s downhill, and Feb. 18, with the women’s slalom closing the calendar.

In the same interview, Ninna Quario had also spoken extensively about the condition of her daughter, Federica Brignone, who among other things will be one of the Italian flag bearers: “Federica will travel to Cortina on Tuesday and rehearse for the downhill to assess how she feels and whether to try it. Last year she had an incredible season in downhill, won the World Cup. However, it’s really the discipline where she came in later and the one where she has the hardest time coming back. You go faster, there are bigger risks, you have to be really ready and trained. You can”t improvise.

“I heard from her yesterday. She was a little bit challenged after the last race, but determined to continue her path of recovery – Quario added later. She will definitely not give up, she leaves no stone unturned, not only for the Olympic goal. She always said she did not want this injury to end her career”.