Milano Cortina 2026 and a winter version of Andrea Bargnani: “I got back on skis”
Bargnani may not have had the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games as an athlete, but he hopes that the future of Italian basketball can be prosperous in view of LA28.
“Now it’s easier to qualify, that’s for sure (laughs, ed.). I always said that to Gigi [Datome] e [Marco] Belinelli, before qualifying for the European Championships and the Olympics in the years in which we played was impossible.”
Before turning our gaze towards California, however, there are the Winter Games in Italy. And those, for the former center of the Italian national team, will be a spectacle to be experienced as a spectator.
Even if in a not so distant past, it wouldn’t have been unthinkable to see a Bargnani on the snow…
“I skied as a child – he admits – I have always skied, until I was 12. I also took part in competitions, I was good at it, but then when I started playing basketball at a competitive level I no longer skied.”
A pause that hasn’t extinguished the passion, even if physically it can’t be seen in the prototype skier: “At 2.10m I don’t know, you have to be a little more compact… I started again two years ago, for the first time, quite quickly with parallel skis. It’s a bit like cycling, but I’m much more afraid than when I was 12, so I’m terrified, I stop every two seconds and look over my shoulder to see if anyone is coming down fast.”
Waiting Milan Cortina 2026 and the men’s alpine skiing competitions in Bormio, Bargnani prefers to enjoy the Games as a torchbearer… and his skis in total safety: “I’ll resume – he concludes – but I’ll only do the blue and red slopes as much as possible”.
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