Alpine skiing-Fearless Brignone takes super-G gold in epic comeback win
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 12 : Italy's Federica Brignone sealed an astonishing comeback from career-threatening injury to win the women's Alpine skiing super-G gold on home snow in a feel-good story at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Thursday.
Known as the "Tiger" for her ferocious determination, the 35-year-old had looked doubtful for the Games after a crash last April but fought back to fitness and produced one of her greatest runs on a foggy Olimpia delle Tofane piste.
France's Romane Miradoli took silver, 0.41 of a second slower, with Austria's Cornelia Huetter third.
"I told myself that it was a "make it or break it", but I never thought I would win," Brignone said after winning her first Olympic gold medal at her third Games. "Something special, I would never have imagined it in life."
Before the ceremony her incredible feat was celebrated with a fly past by the Italian Air Force's Frecce Tricolori trailing the colours of the national flag as Brignone stepped on to the podium.
Sixth out of the start hut, Brignone threw caution to the wind on a challenging course that perfectly suited her technical skills. It proved too tough, however, for some of her rivals including American downhill champion Breezy Johnson who walked away from a high-speed crash into the netting.
Giant slalom world champion Brignone was accompanied by huge roars from the packed grandstand as she blasted across the finish line 1:23.41 before taking her place in the leaders' seat and waiting.
Ten of the first 24 starters failed to finish including Brignone's teammate Sofia Goggia, although for a while it looked as though Huetter and then Miradoli might rip up the script.
Brignone puffed out her cheeks as they narrowly failed to beat her time and after that no one came close.
"I was expecting my skiing to be really confident and try to make every turn clean and be, not perfect, but to let my skis go and be smooth through the terrain," Brignone said.
"I tried to always be in front of the slope and to attack. I didn't expect anything else."
Asked if she thought she could take gold so soon after returning to competitive action, she said: "No, never. That's maybe why I did it, because today I was an underdog. I was an outsider, but I know what I can do with my skis."
Overall World Cup champion Brignone faced a race against the clock to make her home Olympics after the crash at the national championships left her with multiple leg fractures and a torn ACL. She only returned to the World Cup in late January and made the start list for the downhill, finishing 10th.
Her gold medal was the first by an Italian Alpine skier at the Milano-Cortina Games and completes her set after a silver at the Beijing Games in 2022 and bronze at PyeongChang in 2018 - both in giant slalom. She also won a combined bronze in 2022.
American Johnson had been expected to challenge for her second gold of the Games but suffered an accident horribly similar to the one that left team mate Lindsey Vonn with multiple leg fractures on the same course on Sunday.
Johnson clipped a gate and careered into the red safety netting at high speed, but incredibly appeared unhurt.
One skier who did make it down was Sarah Schleper, who at 46 became the oldest female Alpine skier to compete at the Olympics. In a record seventh Games, the first four of which were for the United States, the Mexican came 26th.
