Italian Alpine skiing star Federica Brignone expressed delight after she made a solid return to competition at Tuesday's World Cup giant slalom race at Plan de Corones, 292 days after breaking her leg in a nasty fall in Val di Fassa in April.

    The 35-year-old clocked the seventh-best time of the first run, 1:14.72, 1.18 seconds behind provisional leader Sara Hector, before ending up sixth behind Austria winner Julia Scheib after the second one.
    "I felt good," said Brignone with the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics just weeks away.
    "The warmer I get, the better I feel. Then, with the adrenaline, I didn't feel too much pain.
    "It was an excellent test.
    "I'm very happy, but now I want to rediscover the sensations I have and the way I ski.
    "Now I've broken the ice and I hope to do this a little bit in the second run.
    "It was difficult.
    "I had always been calm over the last few days, but when I got my poles out, I said, 'I don't know if I'm ready'...
    "I started off a bit stiff, and in these conditions, it's tough.
    "Then I remembered to breathe and from there on it went a bit better."

Italia media said "The Tiger Is Back".

Brignone is the all-time most successful Italian woman skier in the World Cup and her 37 wins put her behind only the great Alberto Tomba, on 50, for both sexes.
    As well as her second overall World Cup crown early last year, Brignone also got the downhill and giant slalom crystal globes.
    Brigone also has two Olympic silvers and a bronze in her trophy cabinet as well as two world championship golds and three silvers.
   

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