San Vigilio di Marebbe - Almost ten months after her momentous crash in April last year, Federica Brignone has made an impressive comeback in the Alpine Ski World Cup. On the highly technical Erta piste in San Vigilio di Marebbe, the exceptional athlete from Valle d'Aosta finished sixth in the giant slalom. After only a few days of training and a lengthy rehabilitation phase, this result is almost a sporting miracle.
Julia Scheib triumphs - Brignone with heart-stopping comeback
The day's victory was secured by Austria's Julia Scheib, who moved up from third place with a strong run in the second heat. With a total time of 2:19.85 minutes, she relegated Switzerland's Camille Rast (+0.37) and Sweden's Sara Hector (+0.46) to the other podium places. But most of the attention in the finish area was focused on Federica Brignone.
Still in seventh place after the first run, Brignone mobilized all her strength in the final and improved by one position. In the end, she was just 1.23 seconds behind the winner. Brignone herself was visibly moved at the finish: „Crossing the finish line and seeing the green light was something very special after all the tension today. The result was secondary for me, I was just happy to be back at all.“
Strong team performance by the Azzurre in South Tyrol
Alongside Brignone, other Italian athletes also impressed in front of their home crowd. Lara Della Mea confirmed her good form and finished tenth, 2.60 seconds behind the leader. Asja Zenere completed the good team result in 15th place, while Alice Pazzaglia collected valuable World Cup points in 20th place.
Brignone is now looking ahead. The 35-year-old plans to work on her form in the speed disciplines over the next few days in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The main goal remains to regain confidence in her own body and equipment. With the result from Kronplatz behind her, this process should be much easier. The World Cup squad now moves on to Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic, where a giant slalom and a slalom are on the program next weekend.
