Sofia Goggia and Lindsey Vonn on the podium in the encore descent in St.Moritz. The two are friends and rivals only in battle: «Yes, then each of us wants to win»
They hug each other in the parterre, smile, take selfies. Lindsey Vonn e Sofia Goggia, second and third in the encore descent of St. Moritz which saw the twenty-two-year-old German Emma Aicher triumph in a sort of sporting balance (race 1 went to the great American veteran, who returned to success at 41; the reply was instead signed by a talented young woman who is mortgaging the future, already being strong in the present), in the end they talk and confide the mutual secret of friends who respect and look for each other, unless they want to play it when the race is involved.
It is Sofia, in reality, who reveals the unpublished story. «Last year I was in Salzburg at an event of the company that produces my skis. There was already a rumor that Vonn would return to racing and it occurred to me that only she could have done something like that. I called her, she confirmed everything. I told her: “It would be nice if we found ourselves on the podium again.” Lindsey replied, “Let’s keep it as a dream of ours.” Here, that dream is now reality in this new first time together. But I looked her straight in the eyes and I understood that she just likes to win. For me too, we are just at the beginning of a great battle that sees us very excited. Lindsey is a crazy woman: I saw her win overwhelmingly when I was in the European Cup and I wondered if I would ever feel the same emotions.”
The story would also have given Sofia unforgettable moments. But now the days in which the veteran teacher stood in front of the student seem to have returned. But there is a reason and Sofia explains it, starting by saying that she doesn’t look for excuses: «In training in the USA I only worked on the giant slalom, there weren’t the conditions to train in speed as well». So the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympian knows that a job of refining the details awaits her. Moreover, already in two days – in the first descent she was fourth, in the second she achieved the first podium of the year, career number 63 — the wind has changed. For the better. «I skied with more hair on his stomach and more confidence. Too bad for the long curve to the right at the end: I entered quickly, but I wasn’t able to reverse well and I risked missing a door. I can say I’m happy, after a mistake like this and given the gaps reduced by Emma and Lindsey: I’m there, but I have to grow.”
Vonn too — for her there are now 139 podiums — made a mistake on the same point and admitted that she was “not entirely satisfied.” The night after returning to victory «was not at all calm because I had spent a lot of energy» (well, sooner or later the identity card has its say, ed.), while the race put her faced with balance problems. «I can ski better, however I am happy to have shared the podium with Sofia. It’s nice to still be there together, even if she and I want to win first and foremost.”
The season that the Italian defines as “with exciting conditions”, in the sign of a respectful fight against each other, today offers the super-G. The challenge between the two, in a now large field of opponents and in which this time Her Majesty will also be there Mikaela Shiffrin (“But we will sell our lives dearly”), will continue on the Corviglia waiting to develop up to the Olympia delle Tofane in Cortina and the 2026 Games. That will be the terminus of the teacher, or rather of professor Lindsey Vonn. He confirmed this to the French newspaper L’Équipe: «February 12, in a place I have always loved, will be my last day in the office. There is no possibility of it continuing: there is something else in life.” But he had already said it in 2019: are you sure it will be his “last dance”?