Milan Cortina today, Flora Tabanelli bronze medal in freestyle big air

Milan Cortina, bronze for Flora Tabanelli

The 18 year old Italian was one of the favourites, among the athletes to be taken into consideration for a medal in her discipline. Last year she had everything possible on her board, from the women’s overall World Cup to the X-Games, passing through the world gold in big air. However, his approach to the Olympics had been complicated by a bad knee injury, which had even raised fears of his absence. Fears and doubts erased today, with a historic medal.

Tabanelli: “I often thought I couldn’t make it, Brignone inspiration”

Flora spoke like this at the end of the race: “It was a fantastic evening, I’m happy with how it went. I still have to realize it, but being here and having the support of the whole family is unique.”

The baby blue champion added: “I took to the track thinking it was a race like the others. I dedicate this result to all the people who supported me. Being born on the snow shaped me, made me grow up thinking of sport as the most positive thing of all. What makes me live every day. It was a difficult and long road, but I did it with pleasure because it is my passion.”

The Italian also returned to her knee injury, which complicated the approach to the Games: “I tried not to think about it, because I knew how to do things before and I still know how to do them now. Despite everything, my leg is in good shape and I’m here. What if every now and then I thought I couldn’t do it? The thoughts were there, even a few hours ago, yesterday, every day. You never know what can happen. The only thing to do is believe in yourself and move forward”. A mentality that recalls Federica Brignone, great protagonist in Milan Cortina with a gold in Super-G and one in giant slalom: “In recent days I heard from her, I complimented her because she is truly an inspiration”