Ninna, four-time World Cup winner, has also written a book: “When I hug Fede, she stiffens. I stopped being a journalist so as not to harm her. She is very strong mentally and is making miraculous progress.”

I was very small, always the smallest. If I finished second, I would climb onto the podium and reach the knees of the winner. I was really tiny.“ Ninna Quario shows her tenderness in remembering that little girl who desperately wanted her first victory. ”To get to the finish line faster, I went straight ahead and didn’t go through a gate.” Four World Cup victories, the Pink Avalanche born on the day that 17-year-old Ninna won the World Series at Stelvio, with Claudia Giordani second, Wilma Gatta fourth, Daniela Zini fifth, Bieler seventh, and Gamper eighth: six Italians in the top eight. “Sports Prediction ran the headline: the Women’s Blue Avalanche. It took a few more days to write Pink Avalanche. We were the first women’s team to make headlines. Until then, Italian women’s sport had been made up of individuals: Calligaris, Ragno, Simeoni, Pigni, Giordani. But Marta Bassino alone has won more than all of us put together. The real Avalanche is the one we have now. Sofia Goggia has won 26 times, Federica Brignone 37. You can’t even compare.”

Federica Brignone is your daughter.

“One day they stopped saying she was my daughter, and suddenly I became Brignone’s mom. That was when Fede made her first podium in the Cup in 2009. Now even my friends introduce me to other people by saying, ‘This is Brignone’s mom. I’d like to say, ‘Oh, I’m Ninna’… Just kidding, I’m happy about it.“

How are you similar?

”In our energy, in being tireless. And then in our determination, in our competitiveness, we’re both stubborn.“

How are you different?

”She’s much stronger than me. Even mentally: I used to get down on myself when things got tough, Fede reacts much better. We’re different in the car: she drives fast, I drive slowly, I hate speed and anything too adrenaline-fueled. Which is her bread and butter. She’s much more feminine than me: she wears makeup, dresses up, dances well. I’m hopeless at dancing, walking in heels, I fall over. In my day, we were badly dressed. Now they’re all beautiful.“

How much has skiing changed in the last 40 years?

”A lot. Today’s athletes are professionals in every sense: in how they train and how they earn their living. Sure, I bought a car when I was 18, but it’s not comparable to today. I trained by playing tennis in the summer. I used to run downhill, which is the best way to destroy your knees and hurt yourself. And also from the point of view of equipment: we had skis that didn’t turn. Honestly, I think I ski better today at 64 than when I was winning the World Cup. Not to mention the length of a career: at 24, the age at which I retired, Fede hadn’t even won his first race yet.”

Did you ski together when she was little?

“I skied with her until I was six months pregnant. She stole her first plastic skis from a shop. When she was two, we carried her between our legs on the steepest slopes, and she loved it.“

Are you friends?

”No, we’re mother and daughter. I’m almost closer to Davide, who tells me everything and is more affectionate. When I hug Fede, she stiffens up.”

The Olympics were her bane.

“A nightmare. My first time, in Lake Placid in 1980, I was 18, and I had started the season as the world number one in slalom. But I had fallen in love with the team doctor, and I went a bit haywire mentally. At that age, great love can have that effect. The races were a disaster; I never finished, I kept falling. They told me I would do the giant slalom, but not the slalom. It was a shock because I didn’t think I deserved to be excluded. Two days before the slalom, one of the other girls got sick and it was my turn: fourth by 3 hundredths of a second, the best result of the entire Italian ski team. At my second Olympics, in Sarajevo, I was in great shape but caught a cold during the opening ceremony and got sick: I finished seventh, which was a huge disappointment. That race was won by Paola Magoni, who was certainly not the favorite. It was a bit of a shock.“

She covered nine more Olympics as a journalist, the last four as a mother.

”I’ve always loved writing. I’ve kept a diary since March 1974; even then, I liked to write stories.”

Now her diary has become a book: “Due vite” (Two Lives). Hers and Federica’s.

“She’s reading it and says she’s enjoying it.”

Did writing about skiing cause problems with Federica?

“No. I often wrote in the first person, as a mother, and those were the articles that came out best. Interviewing her was fun. But when things went badly and I had to interview the others, it wasn’t great.“

Why did you stop being a journalist three years ago?

”I was a little disappointed with a certain way of doing journalism, and I realized that I could be harmful to Fede. I realized it was time to quit.“

Will you go to Cortina for these Olympic competitions?

”If Fede competes, I’ll be there. You can’t be optimistic in life because otherwise you’re in trouble. He’s making almost miraculous progress, but it all depends on when he puts on his skis.”

Are you afraid when your children ski?

“I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed, I’m afraid they won’t be okay. I have no control over their lives, so the answer is no. I’m confident.“

Federica is 35 years old. Should she retire?

”She wants to be the one to decide, she doesn’t want to do it because of an injury. But it’s a taboo subject: I try not to stress her because everyone has been asking her about the Olympics for months.”