(PRIMASPORT) TRENTO – From the Trento Sports Festival, Sofia Goggia spoke about her health, which has been affected by a double viral infection, a rare combination in adults and for which there is no specific treatment. "I just have to wait for it to pass," said the champion from Bergamo, reconstructing how the alarm bells sounded while she was in Ushuaia, Argentina, training for the start of the World Cup season. In an interview with Sky Sport, she explained how she was experiencing unusual ailments.
“"In Ushuaia, I was skiing as well and as hard as usual, but then I started experiencing particularly strong, intense, and strange joint pain, unlike the usual aches and pains that are managed with anti-inflammatories." This led to weakness in my legs, to the point of being unable to climb stairs. This difficulty was accompanied by fatigue and exhaustion that were certainly not normal for an athlete like her. "I realized something was wrong when walking. I hadn't felt well since July, and my energy levels had plummeted a bit, but I thought it was the extremely abnormal summer heat combined with the overwork." Upon returning to Italy, Sofia Goggia underwent a series of tests at the hospital, where they found, based on blood tests, that she had been bitten by an infected mosquito that transmitted the Chikungunya virus. She also subsequently contracted Parvovirus B19, which usually affects young children but, in the rare cases of adulthood, causes neurological symptoms such as severe joint pain and fatigue. "There's no cure. I'm waiting for it to pass. I've certainly gotten over the acute phase, but I still have a lot of after-effects. I have days when I feel better, and other days when I wake up feeling down.".
“"I'm using my best weapon, which is willpower, the desire to redeem myself, and my relentlessness," added the multiple Olympic and world champion, who rightly praised her ability to overcome difficult situations. "This time, I can't use these weapons of mine; it's something I can't control directly. I try to help my body recover as quickly as possible. There are days when I feel good and go to training, albeit at a much lower intensity than usual, and other days when I wake up in the morning feeling tired. It's not so much the skiing itself that worries me. I've built a career patching up various injuries here and there, so I know how to do it. But to be able to ski, I first have to be well, I have to be mentally clear and physically coordinated," concluded Sofia Goggia, not without promising herself and other athletes to recover as quickly as possible and return to skiing as strong as ever. (PRIMASPORT)