'Speed Girl' Colturi may be the quick fix Albania's medal hopes need

Lara Colturi might well have been preparing to deliver gold for the home nation at next month's Milano-Cortina Olympics, but will, instead, be an unlikely trailblazer for Albania.

The 19-year-old slalom specialist, daughter of Italian 2002 Olympic super-G champion Daniela Ceccarelli, has no link to Albania other than her mother becoming technical director of the Balkan nation's ski federation in 2021.

Had she decided to work her way through the Italian ranks, it would have required patience to make her World Cup debut.

Yet, unsurprisingly, for a skier nicknamed "Speed Girl", Colturi was in a hurry, and her switch to Albanian affiliation, with the promise of a hefty funding package, fast-tracked her career.

With the FIS's "Basic Quota" rule, meaning less-established Alpine skiing nations can enter one athlete per World Cup event, Colturi got her chance in 2022, and became the youngest female skier on the World Cup circuit in more than 40 years when she debuted at the age of 15.

Three years on, she is still awaiting her first World Cup victory, but that, surely, is just a matter of time for a natural-born racer whose aggressive style makes for captivating viewing.

Shiffrin inspiration

Her high-risk race strategy means her results are littered with DNFs (did not finish), but a year ago she made the ski world sit up and take notice when she finished runner-up to the United States' slalom queen Mikaela Shiffrin for her first World Cup podium.

This season she has begun to blend consistency with her raw speed, and she has shared the podium four times with the US great, who Colturi describes as her inspiration.

"She is really amazing," Colturi said of Shiffrin, the most successful skier in World Cup history.

"I'm trying to copy everything about her. Since I was five years old, I've been trying."

After securing a third-place finish in the slalom in Semmering, Austria, on Dec 28, Colturi was third in the overall standings for the discipline. And, while the imperious Shiffrin remains way out of reach, Colturi is developing a taste for battle.

"I want to bring my best in races, focus on the performance, and have fun," Colturi said.

"I knew I was fast in training, but now I've learned that I can be very fast in races too."

A family affair

Colturi's rise has been very much a family affair with her mother acting as her coach.

"I can say my mom is my coach and my best friend," Colturi said.

"We spend a lot of time training and traveling together. She gives me technical advice on my skiing, but she also tells me to enjoy this sport and have fun."

It remains to be seen whether Colturi continues racing in the red and black of Albania after the Olympics, but she has the chance to reward its investment by providing the nation with its first Winter Olympics medal.

She is not the first skier to race at the Olympics for Albania though.

Tirana-born men's skier Erjon Tola competed at the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Games, while female Suela Mehilli was present at the 2014 and 2018 Games.

Reuters