Argentina has a really solid lineup, especially if they have prepared seriously for this event. Of course they don't have a champion like we do, but in this format it is enough to win 1 match to play the decisive doubles.
Today we must to beat Argentina. It looks like Sinner will have to win all the singles and doubles for us to defend the title. So far, the 2nd and 3rd favorites before the tournament have already been eliminated: Esp and USA.
Fewer people do do this sport compared to the 90s, less money is spent on it, etc. In the case of women, at some point this sport was almost abandoned because of the belief that it was impossible to beat Scandinavia ( the times of Norwegian domination with Bjoergen and Johaug at the forefront). Only in the last 2 years has Markus Cramer been hired, who is gradually rebuilding the men's and women's teams. Suffice it to say that the last medalist of the World Championships for Italy in the women's was Arianna Follis in 2011... I will also remind you that in 2022 Pellegrino and de Fabiani trained with the Russian team, because the rest of the Italian team was in such poor shape that they couldn`t train together
Well that is a totally different question I too have wondered what happened to Italian cross-country and how there is no one coming for so many years. But it shouldn't take away from the sports where progress has been made.
Appetite grows with eating. Especially since it's not like we develop in every winter sport... For example, 20 years ago we were a powerhouse in cross-country skiing and now we have only 1 Pellegrino (34 age) and a few talented youngsters. And let's remember that our performance in Turin was objectively weak for us: only 11 medals in total. Now, when I hear that we will to win 2O+, some discipline must definitely add medals and also compensate for the losses in cross-country skiing, for example.