SKIING, KOSTNER STRIKES GOLD IN THE GIANT SLALOM IN LENZERHEIDE

We were guilty of having forgotten about them. During the last decade Italian skiing has lived off the extraordinary achievements of Tomba and Compagnoni. However, when one of them came up with a rare failure, there was a gold reserve ready to redeem the fortunes of the Alpine movement. He answered to the name of Christian Ghedina; whereas she, especially when high speed was topical, was and still is called Isolde Kostner, a 25 year old from Gardena, who has already reached 12 World Cup victories with little fuss, after the last pearl at the weekend in Switzerland now behind her. We had said that the curtain had come down on a winning era with the retirement of the two great champions, but the long wave has clearly left some traces of glory; it isn’t easy for the current competitors to make the breakthrough, but the will and the skills are there. It was not by chance that the first cry of deliverance, uttered by Isolde after the Lenzerheide victory, was precisely aimed at those who had said Italian skiing was dead. This year the events of this discipline have really been given scarce coverage in the television schedules. The absence of a champion who almost always wins and a merciless market law means that it is difficult that the ratings follow suit. And so Kostner’s three World Cup successes this season almost risk being forgotten. The protagonist was the first to realise, who passed judgement on the sceptics. “I want to win (the downhill contest) because it has been my dream for years. But also for the people who have believed in me and to show that skiing in Italy is far from dead”. Well we still have a cutting edge that attracts worldwide attention. But, on the whole, also the rest of the Italian women’s group seems in good form, given that six competitors finished in the top thirty in Switzerland. All the same Isolde, the explosive success, is only mentioned at intervals, when the facts can no longer silence her achievements. As said, it could not be otherwise. However, there is an important chance that enthusiasts of the Alpine discipline can put on the line. Kostner is only 25 years old, therefore at the height of full Latin maturity. She does not have Tomba’s precociousness or Compagnoni’s coolness. So far she has, above all, lacked the continuity of her two illustrious contemporary predecessors. However, the occasional triumphs show that she has got what it takes. Of course, it won’t be easy to come through and stave off the mighty Austrians; but the inducement to Isolde is clear: now she has reached the age of wisdom, pick up the glove of a half-impossible challenge. Enough of the barbs in the media, the critical words aimed at those who can do little to shift their ground. Instead, try and add consistency to the sporting feats and win with increased regularity in the near future. The rest will follow by itself; perhaps too much, given that Alberto and Deborah indeed experienced the opposite problem, i.e. trying to limit the intrusion of the tabloid press into their daily lives, due to their excessive popularity during and after their sporting fortunes.