copravolley

For Ghiotto to win 2 golds at the Olympics, he would have to be the second van der Poel or Sablikova in they pick of form. You have to be a genius to beat this whole coalition of Norwegians, Dutchmen etc. However, I don't see that much talent in him. I'd like to be wrong, but I'm afraid that he'll end up with some silver-bronze in the 10 km and that's it. If he starts losing to Eitrem now, who is 22 years old, it won't bode well for the future, and there's also Roest + maybe another Dutchman will jump out. Generally, our team is poorly prepared for this season and it's not like Ghiotto is on individual training on the moon and has just come down to earth and will now win everything while the rest of the team are in terrible form. Of course, the lack of form of Bosa or Trentini means e.g. 20th place, not 10th, but for Ghiotto it could mean 4/5 place, instead of 1st. It's the same with the team. For today, the only positive performance for us is Lollobrigida's 2nd place in the b category of the women's 1500 meters and Fontana's solid performance in the same event. The rest is terrible.

Besides, I think Eitrem will be better than Ghiotto. You can see it after 1500 meters. He is younger. The whole Norwegian team is also in great shape. You just have to look at the team Norway has, how many new and young skaters there are and in our group A there is one Trentini, who takes last place. In every winter sport we invest too little money to be counted. If Eitrem has the same form over long distances as he does over 1500 metres, he will dominate this season, not Ghiotto or Roest.

Looking at last season's 1st World Cup, it's worse for now and it should be the other way around. Bosa out of shape, Trentini weak. Both will drop to a lower group. It's similar to skeleton, i.e. regression instead of progress. I hope this doesn't mean Ghiotto is also in weaker form, because it could end up with 0 podiums this weekend.

In general, our picture for a little over 1 year until the home games looks like this: - the women's sector is still based on one Lollo, who is 3 years older than 2022, - the women's and men's sprint sector is based on one Bosa and possibly the young Pergher (0% possobility for medal in 2026), - Ghiotto has made a lot of progress and that is a big plus. He could result to give our even 3 medals, including 1/2 gold. Our team's performance also depends to a large extent on Ghiotto's form, - the rest of the men's team is basically unchanged. There is Giovannoni in the mass start, there is Malfatti in the longer distances, but they are not competitors on the podium of a major event. I will repeat myself: if Ghiotto continues to make such progress, we will probably win 3 medals, 2 of which gold and it will be a success. If something doesn`t work out, an injury, illness, etc. (we know from Vitozzi that this can happen to anyone), then it could be very bad. By the way, this also applies to other sports: the above-mentioned Vitozzi in biathlon, Goggia in downhill, Brignone in giant slalom, etc.

Today is a day without Italians in the leads positions. I`m worried that they are not trying to revive this our sprint. There is only one Bosa and he is old. Pergher is young but she is also only one. It is a pity. After the Olympics they will probably 100% give up on the entire sprint. Our medal bag in Cortina will depend 90% on Ghiotto, just like it did on Fabris in Turin 2006. If Ghiotto will be in goodshape, he can even win 2 individual golds + a team medal. If not, it will be a flop. Apart from him, only Lollobrigida can compete in the mass start and possibly Giovannini in the men's mass start.

2-1. But it's good to have a great champion in the squad. I've been waiting for this my whole life. I wish we had such stars in every sport.

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

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.

The problem is that this mixed team has never played together since then. There was talk of personal obstacles. I don't know how it`s now.

She had health problems yesterday. Nevertheless, after the gold in mixed doubles with Mosaner in 2022, I counted a bit more on her development. I still think that the biggest chance for us in 2026 will be the mixed team, rather than our teams.

I don't know who Italy should field for the doubles? Sinner has the greatest individual strength but he probably doesn't train with anyone on the team. Last year Sinner played 2 doubles with Sonego in the Davis Cup (two wins) but this year Sonego isn`t in the squad. On the other hand the Bolelli-Vavassori doubles are well-coordinated, as is the Argentine one, but individually these players don't even mean as much as Sinner's 1 hand. For me the Sinner/Berettini option is possible but the question is: did they train together on last day?

Only the girls' gold can sweeten Retronaz's defeat for me.

There are currently no grounds to consider Ghiotto as a favourite for the 5000. He has never won any important 5000 event while dominating the 10 km at the same time. Roest always won the same pattern, with Ghiotto losing all his advantage in the last 2 laps. We will see what the Italian's form will be like now and how tactically he wants to play it. I would also not forget about Eitrem from Norway, who is much younger from these two and has a lot of room for development.

Maybe small but this is our worst performance at the European Championships since the post-Covid period and that's a fact. Germany and Norway surprised with their form here. However, only in Italy are things like this possible, such as changing the head coach of the team with less than two years to go before the home games...

In my opinion we can lose to Argentina, if it's 0-1 in a moment. This Davis Cup format is a lottery, especially with the shortened doubles. It's no coincidence that all the favorites can/will can be eliminated in the quarter-finals. The second thing is that Argentina has a very solid team: 2 players in the top 30 + a strong doubles. If you sure to will win with them, you would have to have 2 Sinners in great shape.

Godun has been training in Italy and Hungary for over 2 years. It's strange that she didn't take a Hungarian passport. Our predecures are so long that it probably wouldn't make sense.

Our worst European Men's Championship in this cycle: no promotion to the 1/2. Retronaz has been in poor form since the beginning of the season. The change of the head coach in the Italian team last spring may have had an impact. Unfortunately, the closer to the games, the worse it gets for us and it should be better because we are the organizers.

I know it doesn't work that way, but if you combined Paolini's character, technique, will to fight and ambition with the body and physical condition of a Sramkova, she would be the perfect player who could dominate tennis for years. There is currently no such dominator, yes there are great Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff but each of them lacks something. We will see what happens next with Sramkova, who has ideal conditions for playing tennis. Perhaps she will have a similar explosion of form as Paolini this season: the same age + loss in the Fed Cup final - Paolini 2023, Sramkova 2024. If Sramkova were 20-22 age now, I would predict a great future for her, but with 28 age as it`s there is uncertainty.

Roberta Vinci also has a 4 title: 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013. Is it just me that most people still call it the Fed Cup? Changing the name was probably a bad idea.

1-0. I hope Paolini closes it out in singles. She deserves it for the overall season and progress she's made.

Our problem is that without Vittozzi or in poor form our chances for an Olympic medal are equal to 0. Wierer actually is more of athlete for relay, which we have little chance without Vittozzi, anyway. At most Wierer can aim for the long run and that too probably only with a 20/20 chance can she count on a medal. France is in a much better situation, because they have 3-4 athletes who can stand on the podium individually.

Lisa Vittozzi will miss the first stage of the World Cup in Kontiolahti due to back problems. In my opinion, it must be something serious, because by missing 3 individual events, she basically loses the chance to win the general classification of the World Cup again this season. Otherwise, she would start and minimize the losses. I`m afraid that this could be a lost season for Vittozzi and without her we basically have no chance for any medal at the World Championships (except maybe Wierer in the individual race). https://fisi.org/vittozzi-salta-lapertura-di-cdm-a-kontiolahti-rientrera-nella-successiva-tappa-a-hochfilzen/

If you hire someone like Wilfried Schneider, your ambitions must be very high. We didn't hire him to take 14th or 15th place in the World Cup or not win a at least one single medal at the Olympic Games in Cortina. The first average Italian coach who would be several times cheaper than a German could guarantee such results. In my opinion we simply miss the final step and a decisive qualitative leap forward, also in terms of technology. The same has been happening in luge for many years, that we are technologically behind Germany, Austria and recently also Latvia. btw., Margaglio was the 3rd competitor in the general classification of the last World Cup.