It's true, but Colturi still only 1 person and for example in the men's slalom we have tragic results. In giant slalom again we last won many years ago. For example, Switzerland has a complete team, which has not only stars but also wide teams in every discipline + young successors.
Scattolo is an option after 2026. For now, all that remains is to count on Vittozzi's return - apart from her, no one is able to regularly stand on the podium.
Alpine skiing also we have a lot of problems: the men's team is very weak and has been winning a few podiums a season for several years and the our best skier- Dominik Paris is 35. We still have a strong women's team but 3 of the 4 leaders are over 30 (Goggia, Brignone, Curtoni) and Bassino is 28. Another 2 years and we will have the same problem as the men's. There is basically no cross-country skiing without Pellegrino for many years, biathlon is based on 2 individuals with one of them has a 35 years. Vittozzi's injury was enough and we haven`t a single podium this season after 3 stages of the World Cup. As for 1 year to the home games the situation isn`t optimistic.
Today maybe there was poor wax servic, but Auchentaller loses in every race at the end, when younger competitors: Grotian, Richard, etc. are already running much faster. Vittozzi is 29 years old but unfortunately she got injured in November - if she recovers, she will still have a big chance for medals. Unfortunately, Wierer can only be a complement to relay teams.
The truth is that the entire Italian biathlon depends on one Vittozzi, who is not sure if she will return this season and her form is also questionable, because the rest of the Italian team is running poorly. Wierer is old and will never win again - she is running weaker and weaker and what is worse: she is shooting poorly. The rest of our team is running too weakly to count on any successes in the future. I don`t believe that Auchentaller or Comola will suddenly make a big progress in the run track, e.g. to the top 10, since the young French women are already much faster than them.
Auchentaller runs poorly, and her last rounds are awful - generally all Italian women have a problem with fitness and this is probably the problem of poor preparation before the season. If you don't run in the top 10, you can forget about successes apart from one individual race. Wierer and Vittozzi always ran in the top 10 during their prime. I don't see such potential in Auchentaller. Generally, both in biathlon and cross-country skiing Italian teams aren`t able to train a few good runners for many years and this is probably a systemic problem - look at France, for example: how many good runners have they been able to train in biathlon in recent years...
In basketball, after Banchero's refusal, they also can`t find anyone else when other countries naturalize players from the USA. The basketball and hockey federations are functioning terribly.
You know how slowly everything works in Italy, for example Antropova had to wait many months for a passport in 2023... Btw., those oriundi who currently play for us are weak - the best is probably Larkin but he is no star either. It would be useful to call up better players but there is very little time.
If Vittozzi doesn't come back in January in Oberhof, she'll probably miss all the season, which means we could be left without any podiums in the World Cup + World Championships in this season. (Even if she does come back her form and competitiveness are of course a mystery). Wierer is too inconsistent and too weak in running form to stand on the podium (except in the individual run but she'd have to shoot cleanly) and the rest of the women's team is still just a supplement to the line-up. The men's team has seen a big regression this season.
And what kind of hockey players with Italian roots playing in the NHL do you mean? Isn't there already too little time for that? In addition the team has to get along and it looks like these people would meet for the first time just before the 2026 Olympics... In both cases there will be a big defeat.
I checked Hungary's results at the 21st century Summer Olympics and they had a terrible result in 2008: 10 medals and only 3 gold. Maybe you remember what caused this collapse?
Btw., I saw lately a few polls recently where Tisza's party was leading in the polls in Hungary. Do you think a change of power is possible in your country?
Winter sports also include ice sports: hockey, skating, curling? I don't understand how you can cut the minimum funds for winter sports 1 year before the home games? Such miracles are only possible in Italy...
But overall it sounds like a perfect system - perhaps each country would have to make some adjustments due to its specificity and geographical conditions.