The famously fearless Italian downhill ski racing superstar Sofia Goggia has returned to skiing at the Passo Stelvio summer ski area near Bormio.
The Italian champion chose the Stelvio Glacier to get back on skis after a tibial plateau fracture in February and a challenging recovery journey.
“I feel better every day; skiing on Stelvio feels like coming home,” said Goggia.
There were no Olympic or World Championship medals at stake, but seeing Sofia Goggia back on skis at the Stelvio glacier, smiling, just five months after fracturing her tibial plateau, was a special moment.
The good news comes as the Bergamo native and 2022 Beijing Olympic Champion begins the early stages of preparation for the 24-25 season, which begins in just over three month’s time and will culminated with Alpine skiing woerld championships at Saalbach Hinterglemm. Then it’s the first Western European Winter Olympics for 20 years, on home snows in Italy too, the season afte
“After the injury, the orthopedists predicted six months before I could ski again, but I managed to speed up the timeline a bit: my first run was at four months and ten days, and now we’re at five months exactly,” Goggia explained. “I feel very good, better every day. Clearly, the bone still needs time to fully consolidate, but the stability is already excellent. That’s why coming to the glacier now was ideal, to understand the adjustments needed for my boots ahead of the training block in Argentina.”
For Sofia, the slopes of Bormio and Stelvio, which also hosted training sessions for her teammates Alex Vinatzer, Christof Innerhofer, and Tommaso Sala, are familiar territory. “I’ve been coming to Stelvio since I was very little; I remember my first summer camps here with the ski club. Being on these slopes feels like coming home.”
The physical recovery is progressing well, but Sofia Goggia’s experience in coming back from severe injuries encourages necessary caution. “With my team, I’ve planned a macro schedule leading up to the next World Cup, but we know we need to stay flexible and ready to adapt based on my health and physical condition. There’s a plan, but we’ll be ready to adjust as needed.”
“I need to take it day by day; it’s still a journey to be built. I try not to think about February, let alone beyond that. There’s a summer of intense physical work ahead to restore full strength in my foot, followed by a progression on skis leading up to the first race of the season. I need to focus on that and not let my mind race too far ahead.”
