Day without medals for the Azzurri at the Olympics in Beijing. She disappointed Dorothea Wierer, only 22nd in the 12.5 km mass start of women's biathlon, in which she started with excellent chances of a podium.
An abysmal gap of 3 minutes and 23 seconds from the winner, the French Braisaz-Bouchet, who finished the race ahead of the Norwegians Eckoff and Roiseland.
Many shooting errors, in fact the two at the first range put her out of the race for the medals, and technical problems that did not allow her to replicate the bronze in the sprint race. At the end of the race, an outburst against the technicians: "Sci del ca ***", he said, for the materials that obviously were not very smooth.
In the men's mass start an excellent fifth place for Dominik Windisch, only 27th for Lukas Hofer in the race dominated by the Norwegian Boe.
In the skicross race, the very young Simone Deromedis, 21, who missed the final by a whisker and finished fifth by winning the B final, was an excellent performance. He will be one of the spearheads at the next Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics.
"I came to Beijing with high expectations, but I tried not to put too much pressure on myself - declared Deromedis at the end of the match -. The season has gone very well for now, I'm in shape and this final has vanished at the very last moment. It's a pity because I was first with two corners to go, I got stuck and they passed me, then I won the final and anyway I am there and I hope that the next races continue to go well ".
In the medal table, Norwegian domination ahead of Germany, the USA and China. Italy 13th with two golds, seven silvers and seven bronzes. With 16 medals it is the second best expedition ever for our colors after Lillehammer. Some gold is missing, but two days after the conclusion, a positive balance can be drawn.
(Unioneonline / L)
