Ski World Cup, Sofia Goggia misses the women's giant slalom in Solden

The Italian champion is dealing with a virus that forced her to interrupt the camp in Ushuaia. The skier began to experience some symptoms while she was in Argentina training and, once she returned to Italy, tests revealed that she had been bitten by an infected mosquito and had contracted the Chikungunya virus. “I'm better now” but “the primary objective now is to get back to feeling good as a person”

Sofia Goggia will miss the first event of the ski season. The cause is health reasons linked to a virus contracted and made known in recent days which forced her to interrupt training. On 24 October, in the usual Solden event, there will be the opening race of the 2026 Alpine Skiing World Cup but the Italian champion will not participate: "I'm better, the trend is positive", said Goggia on the sidelines of the media day of the Italian Winter Sports Federation in Milan, talking about her recovery from the virus which manifested itself during the camp in Ushuaia, Argentina, where the skier was for training. "I had many tremors, disabling pain, I was slow in walking and speaking, uncoordinated on skis. I'm still tired, I missed an important part of preparation and I have to focus everything on training in America. The primary objective now - underlined the champion - is to get back to feeling good as a person, especially on a nervous level, and to recover the usual clarity to be able to ski".

The Chikungunya virus

“I never thought I would get a viral infection that would stop me like this,” added Sofia Goggia, bronze medalist in downhill at the last Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina. The news of the disease was broken by the skier herself who, speaking to Sky Sport, said she had been bitten by an infected mosquito and had caught the Chikungunya virus. "It was a very particular thing - she explained at today's Fisi event - because it gave me so many symptoms on a neurological level, so many tremors, difficulty speaking. I felt very slow in walking, as if I were really slow, uncoordinated even the last two days on skis. And then, these unspeakable joint pains, even at night. I was more scared by the pain than by the tremors or in any case by the fact of not being able to go down the stairs, because I thought more about this something from an athlete perspective rather than from a person perspective."

The season is upon us

The skier's concern is for the upcoming season. Now the priority is to get back to feeling well but, for a competitive sportswoman, not thinking about the repercussions on the races on the calendar is impossible. "It certainly had an impact on my preparation, which I was counting on a lot," explained Sofia Goggia. "I had a week in which I also skied well, so I'm happy for those days. I have to focus everything on training in America, I hope to be able to do that." And again: "Am I used to great recovery? Yes, it's true. But always from injuries or things that had to do with the body, therefore injuries on a mechanical level, with biological times that can be forced with willpower. This time it's something a little different. Once I've recovered the aspect of clarity, I'll think about specific training on skis."