Sölden (Austria) (AFP)

In Sölden, where the season starts with the traditional female (Saturday) and male (Sunday) giants, the Italian finds a track where she shone last year, victorious in a race contested behind closed doors because of the pandemic.

"It's a very nice memory, with Federica (Brignone) second. And there, there will be more the public. My parents took their ticket to come and support me", confides the 25-year-old skier to AFP. .

"Each season is different, but we will start again on this basis with great confidence in my possibilities", she adds, retaining "the consistency" that she "managed to find last season" with four victories (for five podiums) as a giant in the World Cup, to which is added the only Italian gold medal (in individual parallel) at the Cortina Worlds in February.

Nice progress for the one who counted before this great season only a success in the World Cup (in 2019).

Italian emulation

"Quite versatile" by nature, the 2014 junior world champion in giant hopes to make further progress in super-G and will not shy away from the slalom or the downhill: "We will see how the season unfolds, but the idea is to do everything the disciplines ", underlines the third blade of a formidable Italian trio, with Brignone and Sofia Goggia.

“I've improved with them. When you train with such strong athletes, they really push you to pull out everything you can do and even look for your limits. Both technically, when you analyze that. what does one or the other do, and both on the mental side, when you see how they approach things, their determination, "describes Bassino.

The Italian Marta Bassino with the Crystal Globe of the Women's Giant Slalom World Cup, in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), March 21, 2021. Fabrice COFFRINI AFP

Sofia Goggia, downhill specialist, admits having benefited from his advice: "She has helped me a lot to understand how you really ski like a giant. There is a lot to learn from everyone and in particular from the one who is currently number one. in this discipline, because I think that the giant is a bit the keystone of a certain constancy, ”notes Goggia.

"We're still together, we're alike," smiles the descender again, showing a real affinity with Bassino while Brignone has distanced himself further, often training outside the team with his brother.

"With smile"

The French Tessa Worley, double world champion of the giant (in 2013 and 2017), is no less admiring the technique of the Italian: "She always had a very fine touch, we have the impression that she flies on the snow, it is very soft, for me, it goes in the direction of the evolution of the technique in giant. "

What if we keep calling her "Dory" - "Sometimes I can't remember what happened a few days ago!"

-, Bassino finds real strength in its freshness.

This "carelessness", she owes it to her father, a ski instructor, explains the one who grew up in Borgo San Dalmazzo, in Piedmont.

The Italian Marta Bassino in the finish area after taking part in the second round of the women's giant slalom during the Alpine Skiing World Cup stage in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), March 21, 2021. Fabrice COFFRINI AFP

"In adolescence, it is the most difficult moment, many stop competing. Thanks to my father, I have always approached skiing and racing with a smile, he has always shown me competition as entertainment. , with a certain lightness, ”she says.

"So that when I reached a higher level, I did not arrive wrung out like many young people. And even today, I keep this state of mind: running, taking turns, I still like it so much! ", warns the one who, if she does not like the cold, is impatient to relaunch the assault on the slopes, Saturday in Sölden.

© 2021 AFP