31/03/2024
Framing run for the home champion, who tames borderline conditions and extends her reign: after New Zealand, it's Livigno's turn
Livigno, 30.03.2024 - Impossible not to start from here, impossible not to start from the extraordinary performance of Flora Tabanelli, in recounting the final day of these World Junior Slopestyle and Big Air Championships, which for a full week made Little Tibet the center of gravity of the entire freeski and snowboard universe. A much awaited appointment, but made tremendously complex by adverse weather conditions, which forced all the operators of the Mottolino snowpark to an important extra work, in order to guarantee the proper running of the competitions and the maximum safety of the athletes. The first praise, certainly, goes to them. They were closely followed, however, by the young blue talent, Flora Tabanelli, a rising star of our sport and a profile that seems to have all the credentials to take the tricolor movement to unexplored heights, especially in view of 2026.
But let's go in order, because today's feat, with the confirmation of the title won at the beginning of September on the slopes of Cardrona, New Zealand, will be a milestone in the growth and development of an athlete who is really redefining the blue horizons, in freeskiing and beyond. 8 months after the 2023 kermesse, in fact, Flora is a considerably more mature and technically complete skier, capable, over the winter, of winning two golds at the Youth Olympics in Gangwon, and putting together an extraordinary debut season on the World Cup circuit. The highest level in the World, where she immediately came out on top, thanks to third places in Beijing and Tignes, and a third place finish in the overall Big Air standings. Here then that this rainbow confirmation takes on an even more relevant character, because it came at the culmination of a long upward parabola and with the weight of the label of prohibitive favorite: a test of character and composure that bodes well for the future.
In fact, the race was complex to manage emotionally due to the weather conditions. The strong wind, in particular, prompted the organizers and the jury to opt for the direct final, thus minimizing the margin of error and putting additional pressure on the main candidates for the podium. Nevertheless, Flora, who came down with bib number two, immediately put things in the right perspective, printing an excellent 91.00 in the first run. Score then remained unapproachable for all the others, starting with Germany's Muriel Mohr, second with 86.66 and Ukraine's Mariia Aniichyn, bronze with 78.66. More unlucky were the males, whose race was cancelled, due to worsening weather conditions.
Instead, the Big Air Snowboard titles were awarded, for which the scores obtained in the qualifying runs were considered. Victory went to New Zealander Txema Mazet Brown, ahead of Switzerland's Elias Lionel Lehner, and Canada's Eli Bouchard. In the women's event, victory and world junior title went to Rebecca Flynn of the United States, who finished ahead of Japan's Momo Suzuki and Britain's Emily Rothney, who finished with silver and bronze around their necks.
Thus ends a really busy week, although Livigno and Mottolino are not stopping, as next week they will also be the scene of the Italian championships, another opportunity to admire the talent of Flora Tabanelli and her brother Miro. Despite the difficulties created by the weather, the event was a success in terms of organization and participation, with the welcome appointments of the TV studio, masterfully managed by Dario Puppo, in the center of the village, and the award ceremonies, which allowed the population to embrace these great-small champions of the sport of tomorrow.
