CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Federica Brignone is the embodiment of what the Olympics are about. Supposed to be about, anyway.
A crash 10 months ago during the Italian nationals left her with a shattered left leg. She had multiple broken bones, a torn ACL and a dislocated kneecap. The question wasn’t whether Brignone would ski again but whether she’d be able to walk again.
Even now, she still isn’t 100% healed – she put herself at maybe 80% before the 2026 Milano Cortino Games began – and pain is a constant companion.
Yet, she was so determined to ski at a home Olympics she endured multiple surgeries and months of agonizing rehab. Pushed through the doubts about whether this was worth it.
And now? Brignone will leave these Games as a two-time Olympic champion, her gold medals a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and what is possible when we commit ourselves fully.
“If I was coming here to make gold medals, I would go home with no medals,” Brignone said after winning the giant slalom on Sunday, Feb. 15, three days after she won gold in the super-G.
“I came here and, already, it was a miracle to be here,” she said. “Not the gold medal. I didn’t care. I had medals, I had World Cups, I had everything that I wanted, even more, in my life. I came here just to enjoy and try my best and be grateful to be here, at a home Olympics.
“This is why I think I won.”
Sports has often acted as our great healer, and Lord knows we need that right now. The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics had the potential to be that, a salve for the world’s collective psyche in much the same way the Paris Games were a reset from the isolation and fear of the COVID pandemic.
So far, though, these Olympics have only offered reminders of our divides.
American athletes are being told to shut up and ski (or skate or slide), as if wanting our country to live up to its promised ideals is somehow a betrayal of the uniform they wear. Russia’s war on Ukraine remains front and center because of the controversy surrounding a Ukrainian athlete’s attempt to honor the dead.
Curling, normally the most congenial of sports, is embroiled in a cheating scandal. A three-time medalist from Norway has become the poster boy for toxic relationships.
Brignone’s performance here harkens back to the original intent of the Olympics. Not only did she accomplish the impossible, she’s showing you can reach the top without leaving claw marks on the people you pass along the way.
“I cannot rave about her enough,” American Paula Moltzan said. “She’s the kindest, most genuine athlete on tour. She’s kind to everyone. She’s friendly to everyone. And this comeback, to have two gold medals at home – hands down, she’s clearly the best skier in the world right now.”
When Brignone skied into the finish area, she put her hands to her helmet and shook her head in shock. Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund, who until that point had been sharing first place, rushed out to meet Brignone, dropping to the snow and bowing to her as the crowd roared.
It was a beautiful display of sportsmanship, the kind of moment that shows why the Olympics matter. Even with their crass commercialism, scandals and moral equivalency.
“She’s one of the strongest girls mentally I’ve ever met. And also so sympathetic and very nice,” Hector said.
“I really think she deserved this gold medal,” Hector added. “To see her get that was also a very cool moment here in Cortina.”
And beyond.
Brignone is brutally honest about the toll of her crash. Her left leg will never be like it once was. She does not know if she’ll be able to play tennis again. If you gave her the choice between her two Olympic gold medals and the crash never happening, she’d take the latter without hesitation.
But she cannot rewrite history.
“It happened,” Brignone said, “you have to accept it.”
You do not, however, have to give in. You keep fighting. You keep working. You keep hoping.
‘My mantra was tomorrow is better for sure,’ Brignone said.
That is the power of the Olympics, the reminder of that.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
