Italy’s bid to win its first Olympic Freestyle Skiing medal gets underway today, with Slopestyle qualification at Livigno Snow Park leading off the discipline’s 15-gold program.
No Italian has ascended the podium since Freestyle Skiing made its Olympic debut in 1992. The host nation will not be short of medal contenders at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Italy’s first home Games since Turin 2006.
But its biggest Slopestyle hope, Flora Tabanelli (ITA), will not compete today after her name was missing from the start list released on Friday.
The 18-year-old was set to feature in Slopestyle and Big Air, which will have its qualification next Saturday, despite tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in November 2025.
While missing last season’s overall Park & Pipe Crystal Globe winner today is a blow to Italy, it will be represented by her brother Miro Tabanelli (ITA) and Maria Gasslitter (ITA).