Sofia Goggia: "Matilde Lorenzi’s is a tragedy. I’m shocked"

“Matilde Lorenzi’s tragedy is a senseless, really big one, I am very heartbroken and shocked for what happened in Val Senales, I am trying to stay as close as possible to the family”. So during an interview with AGI, Sofia Goggia speaking for the first time since the disappearance of Matilde Lorenzi the promise of Italian alpine skiing, who died on 29 October following the consequences of a fall during training in Alto Adige. Goggia, leaving for North America. Goggia, Olympic downhill champion in 2018 and silver in 2022, is expected to return to the World Cup competitions on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December in Beaver Creek in the United States.

“I haven’t done many days of skiing, if everything goes well in America, I will start competing again in Beaver Creek even if to tell the truth I don’t have any expectations other than living day after day.”

‘Sofi’ is expected to return to the starting gate on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December for the downhill and super-G at Beaver Creek. The champion of world alpine skiing, 31 years old, from Bergamo, athlete of the Fiamme Oro, who boasts two Olympic medals, both in downhill (gold in 2018 and silver in 2022) but also two world championships (silver in super-G in 2019 and bronze in giant slalom 2017) and 24 successes in the Cup, he sent a message to athletes who suffer injuries: “I can say that although I have done three crusaders, almost four before the Olympics, I have always won my medals”.

When asked about the returns to competitions after several years of ‘past’ champions such as Marcel Hirscher (now competing for the Netherlands) and Lindsay Vonn, Sofia Goggia added, “they are two totally different things, Hirscher had also given up on him years ago but he has always been a healthy athlete and what he is doing in addition to having fun is a strategy marketing to promote its skis”.

Goggia is more cautious about Vonn’s return: “she will still have to evaluate whether she will really return, for now she is skiing, which is what she likes to do and it will certainly benefit the whole world of skiing because she has always been a bomb in the media”. Therefore, with the departure of the multipurpose group, in addition to Goggia also Marta Bassino, Federica Brignone, Roberta Melesi and Nicol Delago, towards Denver in Colorado, the North American trip for the Italian ski team has officially begun. The Italians will train at Copper Mountain. The group will join on November 26th you sprintedLaura Pirovano, Teresa Runggaldier, Nadia Delago, Elena Curtoni, Sara Thaler and Vicky Bernardi. The Women’s White Circus features a giant slalom and a special slalom in Killington, Vermont on Saturday 30 November and Sunday 1 December, followed on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 December by two giant slaloms in Mont Tremblant in Canada and then the two-day ‘velocè in Beaver Creek.

Sofia ended last season abruptly on February 5th following the fracture, with subsequent surgical reduction, of the tibia and tibial malleolus of her right leg following a step on a door during training in Ponte di Legno. Goggia, standard bearer of the Fiamme Gialle, speaking of the obligation with immediate effect of the airbag in the fast disciplines imposed by the International Ski Federation, he said, “I think it’s a step forward for the safety of us athletes, already in 2018 I had developed the prototype for downhill and now the FIS has also put it in super-G because the speeds are always high”.