Federica's fabulous feat in the Super-G at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games has given world sport a Queen, who has won everything and more, culminating in a gold medal in her fifth Olympic appearance, after a serious injury 315 days earlier. The Tiger of La Salle has recovered from a broken tibia and fibula in her left leg, just as Marco Pantani did after the sporting drama of the 1995 Milan-Turin race, three wins in the Giro-Tour double.
The Milan Cortina 2026 Games demonstrate an axiom, which, as such, is irrefutable: there are some White Ladies who are more ladies than others. Three above all: Federica Brignone, Arianna Fontana, and Francesca Lollobrigida.
No offense to Deborah Compagnoni, Manuela Di Centa, and Stefani Belmondo, who have contributed to Italy's reputation for winter sports (alpine and cross-country skiing), but Federica, Arianna, and Francesca are the new priestesses of snow and ice.
Of the White Ladies of excellence mentioned at the beginning, one is the Queen who could not be more Queen: La Salle's Tiger, or "Fede" Brignone, to whom we are united by at least two fleeting moments and a confessed love. Namely:
– the acquaintance made when he was twenty years old and therefore far from having strung all his pearls into the necklace of sporting immortality;
– the presentation to Mamma Ninna Quario of a machine that would help Federica, through cell regeneration, fully recover from the accident she suffered 315 days before her triumph in the Super G in Cortina;
– the unconditional affection for the most affectionate four-legged friend known (the Lagotto Romagnolo): both Zio Bello and Hugo, both from the litters of Maurizio Rossini, know something about it (we mention him out of gratitude and certainly not for petty propaganda, considering that the former cyclist has retired from breeding those unruly puppies to whom one owes absolute dedication).
“Having Faith” is the title of the article in the Gazzetta by Luigi Garlando, who, having left the sands of football, is able to express very shareable concepts in children's stories, in his forays on various sports fields and even in padel when opposed to the timeless Bobo Vieri.
In just two words, "Having Faith," the "Tiger" is consecrated as an icon of life as well as sport. Yes, indeed; before completing in Cortina the work she had carried out for fifteen years at every Games she competed in, at the World Championships and the World Cup, Federica found herself fighting to re-emerge from the abyss of a leg fractured so badly that it instilled in the collective imagination the fear of never being able to return to what she had been before her fall at the National Championships at Alpe Lusia on April 3, 2025. From that accident to the fabulous triumph of February 12, 2026, a full 315 days passed—between fears and moments of pure courage—but "Fede" has returned to being "Fede," a bit like Lance Armstrong (who we'll return to one day... without mincing words) was able to do in other disciplines despite cancer; Marco Pantani, despite a fractured tibia and fibula in the 2015 Milan-Turin race, in the midst of a career marked by many lights and some shadows, and Greg LeMond capable of kicking in the face the bad luck that had rolled over him in the form of a hunting accident with his clumsy brother-in-law Patrick Blades, who mistook him for a turkey hiding in a bush.
All giants of life to return to being themselves first and then become plenipotentiaries in their own sporting practice, which is or was their "profession".
What Brignone was able to put together from Alpe Lusia to the fifth Games of his career – he made his debut at the age of twenty in Vancouver… – is a story worth framing and passing on to younger people as a lesson under the seal of President Sergio Mattarella, who, when he arrives in a place, has the privilege of experiencing and helping others experience unforgettable moments.
Around 2015, when Guido Bonseri (so many memories with the Valanga Azzurra...) was juggling skiing and cycling for the sportswear company RH+ and representing the Bormio and Santa Caterina Valfurva area, between downhill runs and bike rides with Alberto Contador, he asked us to be kind enough to intercept the "girl" who would be passing through Milan in a few days, coming from a training camp in the Dolomites, on her way back home to the Aosta Valley. Our mutual friend needed to deliver a bag of uniforms to Federica. My usual residence was just steps from the Sesto San Giovanni exit of the A4 motorway, and it would have been easy for the "girl" to pop into Bicocca, pick up the gear, rejoin the Tangenziale Nord, and resume her journey to her final destination.
No sooner said than done. There she is, the curly-haired girl, already a member of the Italian national team, like her mother Ninna Quario in her day: an Audi on loan thanks to the partnership between the Ski Federation and the German car manufacturer. She's perky, struggling with one of her first physical recoveries. Her glasses pulled down from her thick hair down her nose. And in a great hurry to get going again. A good impression, nonetheless.
Years and years later, in a burst of generosity aimed at helping her through a difficult recovery, and with that memory still vivid, a natural question arises: why not offer Federica the same equipment she can keep at home and use at Juventus's "J Medical" facility, where she's toiling away after the misfortune of a broken leg? Mamma Ninna is quick to accept the proposal. And it all ends there, until we see them both beaming at the end of the gold medal rink, with the parade of Presidents in procession to congratulate them: Mattarella, Coventry, Buonfiglio, Malagò, Roda... what a wonderful moment for Italy as a whole, and not just for the Azzurri competing in the most challenging Winter Games ever. Even Alberto Tomba, who had stopped Italy at the Sanremo Festival with those millions and millions of spectators crazy for skiing, finished in the second row... And what if Sofia Goggia had managed to reach the finish line instead of falling when she was clearly ahead of Federica due to a gamble that later paid dearly?
And what do we know… Without taking anything away from the resurgence of her rival Federica, perhaps Sofia would have triumphed and that reassuring message for the never particularly friendly relations between the two would never have been sent: “Honor where merit is due…”.
Just to put everything in its proper place, the question is: what happened to Federica on April 3, 2025? While stepping on a door, she fell and fractured the tibia and fibula in her left leg, as well as the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.
And what happened to Marco Pantani on October 18, 1995? During the Milan-Turin race, descending from the Colle di Superga toward the Piedmont capital, the "Pirate," like other riders, failed to avoid an off-road vehicle traveling uphill and suffered exposed fractures of the tibia and fibula in his left leg... the same fracture as Federica Brignone. Pantani had left behind a third-place finish in the 1994 Giro d'Italia and an extraordinary performance on the Mortirolo. His recovery was complicated, and he wasn't particularly strong for part of 1996. He found himself with a slightly shorter leg. He demanded compensation of approximately two and a half million euros. However, he returned to being competitive, so much so that he achieved triumphs in 1988 both in the Giro of the sublimation of champion, and in the Tour of the troubled doping issues which saw, for example, the mass abandonment of the Spanish teams due to the controversial issue linked to doping controls and the conclusion in Paris with the applause of the new mentor Felice Gimondi but without the classic support of the highest political exponents of France always willing to ride the echo of the Tour which at that time was unequivocally negative.
Pantani, like Tomba… and the White Ladies of the Games, brought cycling to prime time television, for live broadcasts or for debates related to the Italian victories, just as happened with Milan Cortina 2026 thanks to the fairies guided by Federica, Arianna, and Francesca.
Regardless of how the widespread Winter Games end, the sporting balance will be positive, and the emotional balance even more so. As for the economic-financial balance and the legacy (read: the legacy of the Olympics), we'll have to wait at least seven years before knowing the objective conclusions.
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