With 2nd gold of Games, Italian Snow Tiger Federica Brignone shows age is just a number

Veteran sportswriter Richard Deitsch takes an international view of the Olympics.

She skis with a tiger on her helmet, a nod to her ferocious nickname, Tigre delle Nevi, Snow Tiger. Italian skier Federica Brignone, a senior citizen in her sport at age 35, could not have expected to land atop any podium last April after suffering fractures to the tibia and fibula in her left leg following a crash during a giant slalom race at the Italian Alpine Ski Championships in Val di Fassa. But here she was, the Italian flag-bearer, showing age is just a number. 

On Sunday, she became the true Queen of the Dolomites, winning her second gold medal in four days with a pulsating victory in the women’s giant slalom with a two-run time of two minutes 13.50 seconds. It followed her win in the women’s downhill, which made her the oldest female gold medallist in women's alpine. Brignone’s four career Olympic medals ties Deborah Compagnoni for most by an Italian women's skier. Brava, La Tigre.

Italy is rolling at these home Olympics behind athletes such as Brignone. They have won 22 medals so far, topping the country’s Winter previous best of 20 set at the Lillehammer Games in 1994. We still have seven days of competition left. 

There was all-time greatness in Tesero too, with Johannes Høsflot Klæbo clinching Norway’s win in the men's 4x7.5km cross-country relay. Klæbo has now won nine career Olympic gold medals, the most ever for any Winter Olympic athlete with two more events still to come (the men's team sprint on Wednesday and 50km classic race on Saturday).

“Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is commanding not simply because he wins but because he wins with such precision and control,” said race caller Duane Dell'Oca. “There's a clinical clarity