Federica Brignone was crowned Italian champion. © Fotostudio2000

In the wintry Senales Valley: Brignone with a lesson

The new Italian champion in giant slalom is Federica Brignone. The 33-year-old from La Salle clinched her fourth “Scudetto”, the first in six years, on the Lazaun piste in the Alpin Arena Schnals. She gave her competition a lesson - even though the racer from the Carabinieri sports group was slightly ill in health.

03 April 2024

From: pm/dl

The Val Senales was in a deep wintry mood on Wednesday morning for the start of the Italian Championships in the technical disciplines with temperatures around freezing point and initially light snowfall, which stopped just in time for the decision, which started at 11.30 a.m. A decision in which Federica Brignone drove ahead of her competition and showed why she only had to give way to Lara Gut-Behrami in the giant slalom World Cup last season and also took second place behind the Swiss in the overall World Cup ranking.

With the best running time in both rounds, the three-time Olympic medalist prevailed on the Lazaun piste in the Alpin Arena Schnals with a time of 2.00,96:27 minutes. The winner of 2,40 World Cup races took no less than 3,07 seconds off her second-placed Carabinieri teammate, Giorgia Collomb from La Thuile. The podium was completed by Lara Della Mea (Tarvisio/Army Sports Group), who lost 3,43 seconds to Brignone, while Elisa Platino from Meran fell from third to fourth place in the decision (+XNUMX).

Brignone loved the slopes

“Yesterday (Tuesday, editor's note) I still had a fever, which is why I didn't know whether I could start today. After a strenuous season, the pressure is off and then this can happen. I'm not feeling bad though, I'm coughing a bit and having a hard time breathing, but otherwise I feel good. It was important to me to take part here - for my sports group and of course the other girls, because the Italian championships are a great end and also a celebration, an opportunity to see my colleagues. “I really like the piste here and it was in a nice condition, despite the snow that has fallen in the last few days,” said Federica Brignone at the finish.

The podium of the women's giant slalom.

Elisa Platino, however, took the fact that she fell from third to fourth place relatively calmly. “Unfortunately I made a mistake and ended up in the soft snow, but that can happen. Logically, it would have been nice to get a medal here to top it off. But the season went well, with 15th place in Jasna as the highlight. And what makes me particularly happy is my consistency in the World Cup, which I would of course like to take with me into the 2024/25 season,” said Platino.

We continue with the women's slalom

Laura Steinmair (Olang/Army Sports Group), a second South Tyrolean, made it into the top ten in the giant slalom on Wednesday. The woman from Pusteria came tenth, 4,90 seconds behind Federica Brignone. In total, exactly 60 female racers were registered.

The Italian Championships in the technical disciplines in the Alpin Arena Schnals will continue on Thursday with the women's slalom. The first round begins at 8.45:11.30 a.m., the decision is again scheduled for XNUMX:XNUMX a.m.

Italian Alpine Ski Championships Schnals

Giant slalom women:
1. Federica Brignone 2.00,96
2. Giorgia Collomb +2,40
3. Lara Della Mea +3,07
4. Elisa Platino +3,43
5. Ilaria Ghisalberti +3,75
6. Francesca Carolli +3,77
7. Matilde Lorenzi +3,88
8. Camilla Vanni +3,90
9. Emilia Mondinelli +4,49
10. Laura Steinmair +4,90