.
.
.
.
.

SKIING AND RUGBY: TWO OPPOSITE PARALLELISM . Unfortunately, it goes this way: when there are no champions and a certain discipline has to be reconstructed, the indications offered by results should always be considered with some reservation. It's not the first time that this happens: at first we are thrilled about the exploit of an athlete or the national team, but then we try to skirt the fact that in most cases these exploits are not repeated. The last weekend saw the opposite performance of the Italian rugby team and Christian Ghedina, the Italian downhill skier who has won most medals in the last twenty years. A great disappointment after the joy and, on the contrary, a memorable win after a dark period. Let us begin from the Italian rugby team, which in the third match of the European championship was defeated by the Irish team. After its victory in the inaugural match against the Scottish, the holders of the title, Italy was not able to confirm this historic success and was defeated by Wales. Brad Johnstone, the New Zealand trainer of the Italian team, tried to shake and spur his boys, even sneering at them after the victory of his "Black Magic" yacht over Luna Rossa. But the shocking defeat 60-13 suffered in Dublin underscores how the Italian rugby movement had only given the illusion to its supporters of having overcome the consequences of the world championship. Therefore, should the inaugural triumph be seen as the result of a temporary combination of positive factors, or could it be repeated in the future? As always, the answer will come from the field. And more precisely two weeks from now at the Flaminio stadium, when Italy will play against England, the current leader. On that occasion, we will know if the fact of playing at home may have some influence on the performance of the Italian team, and also if the trainer has managed to strengthen his team. Until now, when playing away our players, who perhaps are also influenced by the fascination emanating from the prestigious European rugby stadiums, have always turned into fearful and resigned victims. In particular, the 3 last tries made by the Irish team leave room for some complaints about the resignation shown by the Italians in contrasting their rivals. Now with England Italy needs to recover its morale, other than the results, even if it loses, as it seems probable. But with the pride of having done everything possible. Nearing the age of thirty, Christian Ghedina, too, seemed an athlete ready to be celebrated in the past and not in the future. He surprised us in December, when he won the downhill race in Val Gardena before Christmas, thus breaking Mair's supremacy in this field. Now the skier from Cortina has beaten once again the Austrian empire, and this should be considered an even more important event. On the ski slope of Kvitfjell, in Norway, the Italian for the first time won a SuperG for the World Cup, a discipline where Alberto Tomba has always refused to compete. What makes his exploit even more prestigious is the fact that our neighbours did not lose a SuperG competition since 21 February 1997. 19 consecutive victories, considering both World Championship and Olympics, give the idea of the strength of Austrians in this field.  This had to be and could have been the most difficult year for the Italian alpine skiing after Tomba and Compagnoni retirement. Yet, at the end we can sum up eight victories for men and women in this season, a number thanks to which Italy places itself just behind Austria, which everybody considers the strongest nation in skiing. Even though we have no real champions now, sometimes our skiers give us some satisfactions that are worth being remembered. Of course, it is easier to combine and programme team victories, but in the last few years rugby, too, has been performing this way: a success from time to time for a sport that is among the most loved. But this is not sufficient: Tomba and the others have glued us to the TV set with almost the certainty of victory or at least with this conviction. For the world of rugby, some positive results would represent the most effective boost of confidence for a number of supporters who look forward to that: to see the slaloms of Dominguez, our most representative player, who scores a lot of tries in the opponent's half.   Paolo Ghisoni

.
 Leadership Medica^®
Mensile di scienza  medica e attualita`
 Copyright 1997© All Rights Reserved