Bobsled, speed, javelin throw and shot put these are the disciplines that Valentina Margaglio practiced in her sporting career before approaching skeleton, an individual winter sport in which athletes descend along an ice track, in a prone position (with their head forward and feet backward), on a sled equipped with runners. On March 1sr, 2020 – during the World Championships in Altenberg, Germany – Margaglio won the first-ever Italian world medal in the discipline: a bronze, in the team event paired with her colleague Mattia Gaspari. In 2022, at the European Championships in St. Moritz, she took third place in the individual event. In addition, she boasts three individual second-place finishes and one third-place finish in the World Cup, along with a victory in the team event paired with Amedeo Bagnis last January. She has also achieved two podium finishes (third place) at the European level, and four gold medals at the Italian national championships, won in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021 respectively. A significant achievement for an athlete who didn't consider herself "cut out for winter sports," as she herself stated in this interview.
Looking at your CV, it's impossible not to notice how closely it's tied to sports. You've been a bobsledder, a sprinter, a javelin thrower, a shot putter, and now you're a skeleton athlete. How would you define your relationship with sports?
"Sport has always been an essential part of my life: I loved motor science classes in primary school and I spent my afternoons busy with training, first volleyball, then judo, then swimming again. I approached athletics in secondary school, training in Vercelli. I competed as a sprinter in the Italian National Indoor Championships in 2013 and 2014, and as a shot putter and javelin thrower in 2015. And it was on the track that I first encountered winter sports: in 2011, the national bobsled team contacted me to do some tests for the role of brakeman, with an eye to the Youth Olympic Games that would soon be held in Innsbruck. In January 2012, I competed in the event, finishing fifth with the team. Despite the excellent result, I didn't feel suited to the discipline and even decided to take a break from sports altogether. This break only lasted two years: in 2014, I resumed training, trying bobsled again before switching to skeleton. The dry runs went well, but the on-ice tests in Norway, not so much. I decided to try again, and the results started to improve. I made my début in the European Cup in 2016, finishing twelfth at the end of the first race, fourteenth at the end of the second. Almost ten years have passed since then."
What are the fundamental elements of this discipline?
"The first element I would mention is definitely the ability to push, which comes into play especially in the initial moments of the race: the athletes, in fact, push the sled - which weighs about thirty kilograms - for the first twenty metres of the track." You also need good endurance: the pressure on the helmet is considerable, almost four joules of force. Skeleton is a sport that requires a lot of sensitivity in steering: you have to interpret the track and must identify the most effective trajectory, which is the fastest one. The study of materials is equally important: the sled and the runners are regularly calibrated, depending on the weather conditions on the track. What fascinates me most about the sport is the combination of speed and an unstable surface like ice. You can, in fact, reach speeds of 130 or even 140 km/h”.
Together with Mattia Gaspari in 2020, in the Altenberg stage, you won the first world medal of the discipline for Italy: can you tell us about that race and how you felt at the time?
“I remember the commentators calling our race a 'miracle on ice': Italy hadn't won a medal in skeleton since 1972. The result was truly unexpected for everyone, especially for me: I wasn't completely satisfied with my performance, but despite some imperfections, I had a good run. My time was pretty good overall, just like Mattia's. After us, the strongest nations were coming down, it was just a matter of waiting: there were three teams that had yet to race, and we were in second place. Canada and Germany overtook us, so we dropped to third place with Russia ready to compete. Only after seeing the times of the Russian athletes did we realize what had just happened. The victory in Altenberg was also a turning point for my personal sports career: My awareness and confidence changed, and this helped me to achieve significant performances in individual events too.”
You are currently engaged with the Italian team in the World Cup races, which will be followed in March by the World Championships in the USA: how are you preparing for these upcoming races?
"I train in Robbio, in the province of Pavia, where for some years there has been a dry push track, wanted by Andrea Gallina, my athletic trainer and also life partner. Lately I have focused a lot on the initial pushing phase, one of my strengths. At the world level I am now second in pushing, an achievement that makes me particularly proud. The construction of this track has allowed me and the other athletes of the team to train in dry conditions, on a track, even in the summer months, without having to wait for the winter season. When the latter starts, we go as a national team to the countries and tracks that will host the races and we train on the ice. The athletic preparation for skeleton is very similar to that of athletics, with a focus on weightlifting, considering that we have to lift a thirty kg sled."
Italian sport as a whole is experiencing a growth phase, with manytalented individuals emerging - many of them female - in different disciplines. What do you expect in this sense for winter sports and for the athletes engaged in this sector?
“I consider skeleton a meritocratic discipline, where what counts are the times and the results achieved, regardless of gender. I would like this meritocracy to extend beyond the races, also reaching the "commercial" component of the sport. In general, for the movement, I hope that the attention gained thanks to the Olympic event will not decrease, but rather increase and that it can then attract new athletes and enthusiasts.”
Speaking of the Olympics: what are your thoughts in view of Milano Cortina 2026?
"The dream is obviously linked to victory, a prospect that I am beginning to imagine. I am working hard in view of next year, using the current season as a test: I want to understand how I can improve steering and which materials to focus on. Milano Cortina 2026 will bring a competition track to skeleton: a significant change that will allow for the development and growth of a real youth sector, something which is currently lacking. I hope that the Olympics can be a real success, from the athletic, organizational and media points of view.”
