[ad_1]
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — In the event that they name Cortina the “Queen” of the Italian Dolomites, then Lara Intestine-Behrami is the queen of the snowboarding world championships up to now.
It is smart that the Swiss racer, who has gained two gold medals and in addition a bronze, feels so comfy within the stylish Alpine resort. In any case, Intestine-Behrami lives two hours away, she speaks the native language and is accustomed to the Italian eating regimen.
“To come back right here and converse Italian, it feels a little bit bit like dwelling,” Intestine-Behrami stated after including an enormous slalom gold to go along with her world title in super-G.
After finshing third in Saturday’s downhill, Intestine-Behrami drove to her dwelling in Udine for a few days to recuperate from the opening week of the worlds. She cooked her personal meals, slept in her personal mattress and regrouped along with her husband, Swiss soccer participant Valon Behrami.
“It’s the primary time for me on the world champs that I used to be in a position to go dwelling,” Intestine-Behrami stated. “It’s an excellent feeling.”
It’s additionally the primary time that Intestine-Behrami has gained gold at a worlds or Olympics.
Intestine-Behrami comes from the Italian-speaking Ticino canton of Switzerland however has been residing in Italy for 2 years, since she married Behrami.
“They’ve a home in Udine and (Behrami) performs for Genoa, in order that they have an condominium in Genoa. She actually loves being by the ocean, so it’s best for her — one home within the mountains, one other by the ocean,” Pauli Intestine, the racer’s father and coach, stated whereas sporting a face masks that includes the brand of the Genoa soccer crew.
Intestine-Behrami’s newfound success and tranquility is available in stark distinction to what she skilled over the previous few years.
As soon as a teenage prodigy, she was anticipated to observe in Roger Federer’s footsteps and develop into the following Swiss famous person.
When Intestine-Behrami gained the general World Cup title in 2016, every little thing appeared on monitor. However then she tore up her left knee at her dwelling worlds in St. Moritz in 2017, which had the impact of serving to Mikaela Shiffrin win her first general title and take over as the highest girl within the sport.
When she returned the next season, Intestine-Behrami talked about studying novels to seek out her interior peace.
“I needed to ‘break’ my knee to rediscover myself,” she stated on the time.
The following seasons included a strained relationship along with her father, and calls from outdoors her interior circle to discover a new coach.
“We all know how down she was when she wasn’t snowboarding quick,” stated Intestine-Behrami’s mom, Gabriella. “We have been there to help her throughout these occasions. Now she has responded with these outcomes.”
Outcomes that may cement Intestine-Behrami’s standing as a medal contender in a number of occasions for subsequent yr’s Beijing Olympics.
Whereas Intestine-Behrami was an amazing favourite for gold within the super-G, she was thought of an outsider within the big slalom, which lived as much as its expectation as probably the most aggressive race of the championships.
Intestine-Behrami’s 0.02-second margin of victory over Shiffrin on Thursday represented the closest ladies’s GS race in worlds historical past.
What’s extra is that it was Intestine-Behrami’s first big slalom win in almost 5 years.
“It was already nice seeing her win the super-G. However the victory in GS is absolutely the final word,” Pauli Intestine stated. “I normally stay fairly calm however for a minute there I simply went wild.”
Whereas Shiffrin — who has a medal of every coloration up to now — might be favored to win Saturday’s slalom and presumably overtake Intestine-Behrami because the skier of the championships, Intestine-Behrami will swap her focus to a different goal.
She is heading again to her close by houses to regenerate once more earlier than resuming her pursuit of a second general World Cup title.
Intestine-Behrami trails general chief Petra Vlhova by a mere 42 factors with 11 races remaining and wins price 100 factors every. Making issues extra comfy for Intestine-Behrami is that the World Cup season resumes with extra velocity races in Italy, in Val di Fassa.
“For now let’s take pleasure in these medals,” Pauli Intestine stated. “Then subsequent week when the World Cup resumes we’ll take it one race at a time. Then we’ll see what occurs.”
AP Sports activities Author Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
