Biathlon: Lisa Vittozzi is not yet at 100%
Last December, at the end of a winter in which she had been crowned the world’s best biathlete by winning the crystal globe, Lisa Vittozzi decided not to compete in the 2024/2025 Biathlon World Cup.
The Italian suffered a back injury in the autumn and never really recovered from it. With the agreement of her staff, she decided to withdraw for the entire season. It was an absence that obviously counted for something in the Italian ranks , where Dorothea Wierer has never regularly played a leading role.
“We obviously missed an athlete like her,” Klaus Hoellrigl, technical director of the Italian team, told Fondo Italia. ” All the nations would have missed her. However, I don’t want us to hide behind her absence. It was important because other athletes were competing and also achieving results.”
At the time of announcing her withdrawal, the 30-year-old biathlete had also indicated that she was giving priority to the Olympic Games scheduled for next winter, which she will be competing at home in Milan/Cortina (Italy): “She’s doing better and we can gradually start to get her to do certain exercises. At this stage, we’ll have to go step by step. We’ll decide on her training programme carefully ,” adds Klaus Hoellrigl.
As yet, the Italians’ coaches have not decided in which squad Lisa Vittozzi will return to summer training. One thing is already certain, however: caution will be the order of the day. “First of all, she needs to recover 100%. We’re going to support her as she takes her first steps,” adds the technical director. After that, we’ll try to understand what’s best for her. We’ll do everything we can to get her back in the race .
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