Historic Italian Triumph in Ski Cross: Simone Deromedis Takes Gold, Federico Tomasoni Silver

Saturday's competition in Livigno brought Italy an unprecedented success in their ski cross history. Simone Deromedis, the 2023 world champion, confirmed his dominance, leading the final from start to finish. However, the biggest surprise was Federico Tomasoni, who, after a spectacular chase on the final section of the track, snatched the silver medal from Swiss Alex Fiva, beating him by a fraction of a second in a dramatic photo finish. The Italian team celebrated their tenth gold medal during these Games, strengthening their position in the host nation's medal standings. The event had an extremely emotional course due to Tomasoni's stance. The athlete started in a black helmet with a painted sun and the inscription "Sarai per sempre il mio sole". It was a tribute to Matilde Lorenzi, a talented alpine skier and the athlete's fiancée, who died in October 2024 as a result of an accident during training on the glacier in Val Senales. Tomasoni did not hide his emotion after crossing the finish line, kissing the medal and looking towards the sky. The father of the deceased skier, Adolfo Lorenzi, commented on his son-in-law's success in moving words, suggesting that Matilde symbolically accompanied him on the track. Ski cross debuted in the Winter Olympic program in 2010 during the Vancouver Games. This discipline, classified as freestyle skiing, involves direct competition between four athletes on a specially prepared course with bumps and jumps, making it one of the most spectacular and contact-intensive winter events.The success of Deromedis and Tomasoni is the first instance where two Italian representatives stood on the podium simultaneously in this discipline. Deromedis, hailing from Trento, linked his triumph to the success of Giuliano Razzoli, who was the last Italian skier with a gold medal in an individual event (slalom in 2010).