Anticipation is growing for an evening of great sport and entertainment: cross-country skiing in the heart of summer. Even Federico Pellegrino at the start: ‘A special place here’.
Livigno, 19/08/2024 - An ever-iconic moment in Livigno's summer is that of the summer snow, which on the occasion of the traditional Gara da li contrada da Livign and, above all, the eagerly awaited BWT 1K SHOT transforms the village centre into a real cross-country skiing arena. A thousand metres to be experienced in apnea and a dream setting, for a sporting challenge that this year also features great technical content. Summer, with its colours and activities, dominates the horizon, but the people of Livigno, the enthusiasts and the many tourists in the town will be able to enjoy the spectacle of a ski race: a true taste of winter.
A magical evening, made possible thanks to the practice of snowfarming, which consists of storing, at the end of the previous winter, snow in the central plain of the village. Here, it is then covered with a combination of wood fibre and geothermal sheets that protect it from the temperatures and the summer sun, limiting its melting. A tool that allows Livigno, not only to make the most of the first cold weather, by providing athletes with a cross-country skiing track already at the beginning of autumn, but also to use the snow for the long-awaited summer event, this year scheduled for 29 August.
Three main moments will animate the day. Distinct yet complementary. Starting at 5 p.m., it will be the turn of the BWT 1K SHOT to open the dances, with a sprint challenge, one against one with direct elimination, to crown the king and queen of speed 2024, and with a very high-profile starting group, thanks to the presence of some of the most prestigious names of the Italian national cross-country skiing team. ‘I am always happy to come back to Livigno, and doing it in such a unique and competitive context makes it even more special,’ these are the words of Federico Pellegrino, who together with Francesco De Fabiani, Caterina Ganz and the other athletes of the Italian team, will compete against each other and against the best local promising athletes, captained by the Livigno Team athletes, in a race that promises to be of excellent technical profile. Quarters, semifinals and finals scheduled between 17.40 and 18.40, with Flower Ceremony immediately following.
Second moment, between 7 and 8 p.m., a freestyle show, in the Plaza dal Comun, arrival area of the BWT 1K SHOT, where the athletes of the snowboard and freestyle sections of the Sporting Club Livigno and those of the Livigno Team, will entertain the audience with a show of jumps and evolutions, creating a link with the near future. On the horizon, in fact, there are the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, which precisely in Livigno, thanks to snowboarding and freestyle, will award the highest number of medals of the entire edition.
The event will be closed by the traditional Gara da li contrada da Livign, which proposes a challenge between the different districts of the town, on the same track but with an inverted route, starting from Plaza dal Comun and arriving in Via dala Gesa. A moment of communion between the locality's most identifying traditions and its sporting soul. The worthy conclusion of an event that encapsulates all the nuances of Livigno and its love for sport, and that in the triangle between the August snow, elite athletes and respect for tradition, finds one of its most fascinating expressions. The whole event will be broadcast live on MyLivignoTV, channel 111, on Livigno's Facebook page and on Sportmediaset's website.