De Aliprandini & Gisin: Emotional Race After Injury

In this case the race has nothing to do with it, it went as it went (not bad, considering the situation). But in the Val d’Isère giant Luca De Aliprandini went beyond the mere sporting aspectwith a gesture, with words and with tears that give him a moral victory. He agreed to compete, first of all, despite having rushed to Zurich on Thursday to the bedside of his girlfriend and partner Michelle Gisin, who had a disastrous fall in the last test of the St. Moritz downhill. Luca dropped everything and rushed from France to the hospital where Michelle – a bi-Olympian and sister of Dominique, herself a former Olympic gold medalist – was about to undergo surgery to stabilize her damaged cervical spine, the worst result of an accident which also caused her a broken wrist and damage to a knee. Fortunately, the operation went well, Michelle, who managed to send messages to her companions, escaped the risk of serious consequences, even if she now faces a recovery that will require perseverance and patience.

But he asked Luca not to skip the commitment in Val d’Isère. And he supported her, writing on social media that he was going to the race “for her and with her”. It was certainly the toughest competition of his career for De Aliprandini: his skis on the track and his mind too, but also with a “detour” towards Zurich. He closed the first heat with an excellent twelfth place, then in the second – always more difficult than the initial one because at a certain point the shadow falls inexorably on the Face de Bellevarde – he slipped to twenty-sixth place (but the gap, 1”83 from the winner, the Swiss Meillard who preceded his compatriots Aerni and Odermatt, was not huge: in other situations, if the gaps between the athletes had not been rather small, it would have led to a significantly better placing).

However, as we were saying, this is not what matters. What counts instead is the sincerity with which the Italian, silver medalist at the 2021 World Cup right between the wide goals, commented on his day at the end. Or rather, as he attempted to comment. In fact, in front of the microphone of his colleague from Rai, Luca immediately fell into tears and sobs. Then he managed to speak, for a few seconds: «Michelle is strong and gives me a lot of strength. He wanted me to be here, it was difficult for me.” It would have been even better if he had managed to finish further ahead, or if Alex Vinatzer, having gone from sixth to eighth place, had climbed onto the podium like in Beaver Creek, to dedicate the result to Michelle and his teammate. But it doesn’t matter, that’s fine, Luca De Aliprandini’s pearl remains there, in all its beauty.