Cortina: Brignone disappointment, medal fades in combined

Italy still without medals in Cortina even after the combined. And now these World Ski Championships are beginning to shake. The great blue disappointment materialized in the image of Federica Brignone's exit already at the third gate of the special slalom test after having dominated the super-G in front of the other blue Elena Curtoni. There were therefore all the conditions to finally have a day of blue glory as Fede in combined is a leader: in fact, he has won all those of the last two seasons and also holds the discipline cup. In addition, Brignone in this period felt strong in slalom. "It is the discipline in which I am skiing best. But I was perhaps too aggressive from the start. But at the first doors it took more caution and I did not understand. My fault, I had to play with the three strongest in the world and I they are said to either go or break it ", said the blue, explaining that inevitably" they still run ". The gold went to the American Mikaela Shiffrin. For her an amazing palmares at the age of 25: six world titles, two Olympic golds, three world cups and 68 victories. Silver instead to the Slovak Petra Vlhova and bronze to the Swiss Michelle Gisin, reigning Olympic champion. For Italy the best was Elena Curtoni fourth, with a good gap from the podium after being second in the super-G round. Sixth Marta Bassino. In the men's combined, thanks to his ability as a slalomist, the Austrian Marco Schwarz prevailed. For him, four cup victories, his first world title at the age of 25. And with this gold, the third after three races, Austria dominated the Cortina World Cup in the men's field. Silver instead to French Alexis Pinturault, outgoing world champion, and bronze to Swiss Loic Meillard. Riccardo Tonetti, after a serious mistake in the slalom, finished 7 / o. Further back Christoph Innerhofer, who had also disappointed in the super-G heat. Giovanni Franzoni, 19-year-old Lombard rookie, on the other hand already got on the first door but got back up and closed with a biblical delay of over 23 seconds. In short, a race and a day to forget. And there is less and less evidence in which Italy can at least save the honor in Cortina. The best opportunity will be with the giant women on Thursday, with Bassino and Brignone dominating the discipline for the past two seasons. Nothing to do instead - at least on paper - in all the other technical races for men and women, with a thread of hope on Alex Vinatzer in special. Then there are the two parallel giants of tomorrow - the latest medal discipline introduced at the World Championships - and Wednesday's race for nations. They are tests in which anything is possible. This year there was only one parallel race in Lech: among the women victory for Vlhova, fifth place for Bassino and seventh for Brignone. Still being a giant, it is a competition in which the two blue can excel. In the parallel men from Lech, however, no Italian ended up in the standings. Italy for the women's competition sides with Bassino and Brignone Lara Dalla Mea and Laura Pirovano. For the men's race the squad are Luca De Aliprandini, Giovanni Borsotti. Riccardo Tonetti and Giovanni Franzoni.