Federica announced her return after the injury, at which point Goggia’s candidacy waned. Buonfiglio: «Difficult choice, I would have liked to make her happy too: she deserves it»
In full respect of gender equality (two men and two women), sporting “biodiversity” (two snow heroes, two ice heroes) and places of origin (one from Aosta, one from Trentino, one from metropolitan Lombardy, at least by birth, and one from the mountains) at 12.12 yesterday, Friday 12 December, the president of CONI Luciano Buonfiglio, who as a good Neapolitan attributes divinatory meanings to the numbers, announced the names of the Italian flag-bearers for the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Games.
With 17 Olympic medals on the board, next February 6th in Milan the empress of short track Arianna Fontana and the cross-country skier Federico Pellegrino will parade with the tricolor while in Cortina the task will fall to the queen of alpine skiing Federica Brignone and Amos Mosaner, gold medalist in curling. «It was difficult because many would deserve the role, but we took inspiration from history and traditions, finding new solutions – explained Buonfiglio – and rewarding all disciplines. I’m happy but not overjoyed, because I would have liked to give Sofia Goggia the satisfaction she deserves for her story. I would like those who are responsible for choosing who will carry the flag for the flag-raising ceremony in Cortina (not Coni, ed.) to be able to opt for her. It would be another rewarding choice.”
The exclusion of Goggia – who unlike Pellegrino and Brignone won an Olympic gold and should have been the standard-bearer in Beijing 2022, before his injury and rapid recovery – was decided by the phone call to the president of CONI with which on Thursday Federica dissolved her reservation for participation in the Games, after the terrible injury last April. The winner of the World Cup therefore displaced Goggia while the choice of Pellegrino – for gender equality – excluded the two stars of biathlon (a discipline that has never carried the flag in 66 years of presence at the Olympics), Vittozzi and Wierer, with the second (fourth yesterday in the sprint race in Hochfilzen) at her last Games after three bronzes in three editions.
«I didn’t call Goggia by choice – said Buonfiglio —, you can’t call someone to tell them they will be excluded.”
The Federghiaccio, six Olympic disciplines, ties for representatives with the Fisi which has eleven: if the choice of Arianna Fontana, who has been at odds with the Fisg for some time, seems inevitable given that she is the most medal-winning Italian player ever, the designation of Mosaner, which instead satisfies the president Gios, has «condemned» the only Venetian candidate, Stefania Constantini who with Amos shared the gold in the mixed doubles curling in Beijing and who will also work alongside Cortina.
The most effective competitive response to the call was that of Federico Pellegrino, the first member of the Coni National Council to parade, who yesterday afternoon, paired with Elia Barp, took silver in the Davos Sprint team, Olympic trial, two seconds behind Norway. «I am proud to be the first Aosta Valley to hold this roleI am also proud of my Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro represented for the first time at the parade – explained Pellegrino – and I believe that there could be no better way to end my career as a cross-country skier in Milan-Cortina”. The four Azzurri will receive the flag from the hands of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale on 22 December.
