Jan 8 (Reuters) - Lara Colturi might well have been preparing to deliver gold for the home nation at next month's Milano Cortina Olympics, but instead will 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 to 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 and became the youngest female skier on the World Cup circuit in more than 40 years in 2022 when she debuted aged 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 her captivating viewing.
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 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 American great Shiffrin, who Colturi describes as her inspiration.
"She is really amazing," Colturi said of 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 a third place in the slalom in Semmering on December 28, Colturi was sat third in the 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 learnt that I can be very fast in races too."
Colturi's rise has been very much a family affair with her mother acting as her coach.
"I can say mum is my coach and my best friend," Colturi said. "We spend a lot of time training and travelling 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 their investment by providing the nation its first Winter Olympics medal.
She is not the first skier to race at the Olympics for Albania though. Tirana-born Erjon Tola competed at the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Games while Suela Mehilli was present at the 2014 and 2018 Games.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
