The Italian has left her home country behind to take the next step in her career and reach the Olympics. Now, the 28-year-old is part of Kristine Stavås Skistad’s training group, Team Konnerud, where she is getting support from the sprint star’s coach.

Stefania Corradini from Italy has been on the fringe of the Italian national team in recent seasons. This coming winter, the Olympics will take place on home soil, in Val di Fiemme, just under 20 minutes from Corradini’s home.

To take the next step in her career, she decided this spring to do something different. Stefania reached out to Team Konnerud in Norway, and within just two weeks, she was packed and on her way to her new home.

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Attended ski high school in Sweden

But the Italian is not unfamiliar with Scandinavia. She spent four years at the ski high school in Mora, focusing on ski orienteering, and therefore speaks fluent Swedish.

“I actually attended Mora Ski High School when I was younger and focused on ski orienteering, which is why I speak Swedish. A lot of people wondered why I spoke Swedish when I moved here,” she told Langd.se.

At age 23, Stefania began to focus more on traditional cross-country skiing, and in recent years, the now 28-year-old has competed successfully in Italy. She has won the Italian Cup twice. Last winter, she was selected for the World Cup in Cogne but fell ill.

Training with Norwegian stars

She is now part of Team Konnerud in Norway to take the next step in her career and reach the Olympics on home soil.

“The Olympics have been my big goal for many years – it’s what has motivated and driven me forward. I’ve mostly trained on my own at home, mainly with my dad as my coach. But now I felt that I needed a new and slightly better environment to take the final step toward the World Cup.”

Among others, Team Konnerud includes Kristine Stavås Skistad, and her personal coach, Lage Sofienlund, is also a coach for the team. In addition to Skistad, there are several strong Norwegian skiers in the training group.

“We have group training sessions every week, usually the harder sessions. It really is a fantastic environment where everyone contributes. Everyone wants to get better and become the best in the world. There’s a sense of community here that I’ve never found or seen before,” says Stefania, continuing to praise the team:

“Many of those in the team want to help each other improve. That’s very big and important if you want to develop, both as a person and as a skier.”

“Everyone has been so welcoming”

From mostly training on her own with her dad, Stefania has seen a big change now that she trains with several stars.

“It feels huge. When I came here, I didn’t know who I would be training with – it was just the environment that attracted me. But many are very good. We have a high level at every session. Someone’s best at double poling, someone’s best at short intervals, and so on. Every session is world-class. You have to push yourself and always have someone to look up to.”

Have you had a good impression of Norway and your new training group?

“They’ve been so welcoming to me. It was strange for me to move up here, but it must’ve been a bit strange for them too, that a girl from Italy showed up. But I already feel like part of the group.”

What would you say is the biggest difference in training between Norway and Italy?

“In terms of training, it’s tougher. The great thing is that there are so many skilled skiers here. Every training session is very high-quality, and I feel that’s what it takes to become as good as possible,” she concludes.

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