Nordic Combined FIS Continental Cup 2023 - 2024 (Lillehammer)

I won't write about injuries (Fede) and non-sporting matters (Colturi), but the fact is that Italy has its worst start to the season in alpine skiing in over 10 years... Just one victory, and podiums- if any, they're mostly 3 places. We're also not leading in any of the season standings, no in the women's or men's categories. This isn't be it should be in an Olympic year in your country, where you're having your worst season in many years.

Plaisier blew 3 match darts and Ratajski comes back to win!    

should now be qualified in alpine skiing.

Yes, she was unlucky, but it could just as easily have happened during some training, like with Gut, etc. Brignone has been essentially injury-free throughout her long career, which is very rare in this sport. It's unfortunate that this happened after her best season ever and just 1 year before the Olympic Games in home, when she just missing of win the Olympic gold medal in her great career. With the gold in Cortina, she would have become a legend of Italian skiing, on par with Tomba. Now she's still the best Italian woman in history, but the miss of Olympic gold will likely haunt her for the rest of her life. 

It sad to see this season, as I remember, that Fede last year was winning everywhere, when she competed and finished and now we haven't even managed a single podium in the giant slalom, and it'll probably stay that way until the end of the season. Without Fede and Bassino, unfortunately, we're out of good cards in this event. For me Goggia should probably skip the giant slalom at all, becouse she has no chance of a podium and she risks further injuries. If even Goggia finish 8th or 10th? What difference does it make? If she couldn't get a podium finish today with so many DNFs at the top skiers, she probably never do. Della Mea is OK this year, but let's be honest, she's not World Cup podium material. Overall, it's a sad picture, and we have a 0% chance of anything in Cortina unless a miracle happens in Brignone return.   We have two chances for Goggia in DH and SG + maybe a dark horse in Pirovano/Curtoni in SG. That's all. In technical events, we have a 0% chance for medal and that's sad. Our federation also lost Colturi in this situation... In any normal country, the head of such a federation should be dismissed for disciplinary reasons and this case should be investigated by the minister, or even the prime minister, but not in Italy...