Moioli looking for “magic moment” as Snowboard Cross tour returns to Italy

Almost exactly a year out from the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the top Snowboard Cross riders are preparing to compete next weekend in Italy for the second time this season.

The third stop on the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup tour in 2024/25 is Cortina d’Ampezzo, with its unique nighttime racing. And one athlete hoping to perform there is home favorite Michela Moioli, currently sitting fourth in the overall standings.

Moioli is in her 13th season on the World Cup circuit and, remarkably, has only finished outside the top three overall twice – in 2013/14, and in 2022/23, when she was injured. She won the Crystal Globe in 2016, 2018 and 2020 and was third last year.

The Italian is coming into Cortina with a lot of excitement – about racing at home, and racing under the night sky.

“Also I love racing in the night because it becomes like a magic moment when the sun goes down and shines on the beautiful mountains up there,” Moioli adds.

“The organizers there are great workers and every time they put on a big event, even when the snow condition is poor. I hope that this year the course will be a little bit longer, faster and maybe harder. But in any case it will be super fun.”

Moioli’s season started in Cervinia in December with an eighth-place finish. In Beidahu last week she had a solid competition, coming second on day 1 to Charlotte Bankes (GBR) and fourth on day 2 amid some close racing.

“I’m pretty happy about my performance in Beidahu. A lot more than Cervinia,” Moioli says.

“I was struggling at first with the different snow and cold, but day by day I kept the focus on myself, I fixed a few things and the two racing days I felt really in my place. I had fun, the course was really a real one, with big jumps and other stuff. I really enjoyed racing there.”

At the age of 29, Moioli is now one of the more experienced riders in the women’s field. If she qualifies for Milano Cortina 2026 it will be her fourth Olympic Games, and a chance to add to her medal collection – gold in PyeongChang 2018, and team silver in Beijing 2022. She is the first Italian Snowboard Cross Olympic champion in history.

But Moioli’s Olympic journey has had its bumps along the way. Aged just 18 years old, she reached the big final at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. Racing hard in the six-strong field, she touched edges with another rider on the brink of a jump, fell, and tore a cruciate ligament in her knee.

Looking back, Moioli recognises the importance of that moment.

“It was a cold shower just at the beginning of my career. It taught me that, if I want to compete at the highest level, I should be more trained and mentally prepared for it. I was 18, I was so young,” she remembers.  

Now Moioli is watching other young athletes join the field and compete alongside her.

“The level of the women’s field has increased a lot in the past few years. Even if few big names are missing , the level of the girls is going up year by year,” she thinks.

“Especially the young ones like Josie (Baff), Lea (Casta), Noemie (Widmer). I think that these and other girls have great opportunities in front of them and I wish them to enjoy every single step of their growth,” Moioli adds.

It is likely that there will be several teenagers in the line-up at Milano Cortina next year, all hoping to follow in Moioli’s footsteps as Olympic champion. But looking at the Olympics now, Moioli is mostly hoping to enjoy the experience.

“Having the Olympics in Italy is a great opportunity for me and the whole Italian team to enjoy the most important sport event in our own home. I love racing in Italy and I think the atmosphere will be great, I’m sure,” she says.

“On the other side we could have more pressure than other nations, but this depends on ourselves and how we handle it. I am a really experienced athlete now, after three Olympics, and I don’t want to feel the pressure but the joy to live an experience like that in my country, in Livigno, which is a second home for me.

“Of course I would like to win a medal, but that would be possible just at the end. Instead I want to enjoy my journey to it – more than I did in the past Olympics when I was thinking just about medals and didn’t really enjoy the process into it,” she explains.

And joy is what sings out from Moioli’s attitude to racing and her life generally.

“⁠I love my job , but I also love my life outside of snowboarding,” she admits. “I’m an athlete so I spend a lot of time at the gym. But when I’m free I like to go biking, surfing, camping with my van and my boyfriend. We really like living the nature with our small home on wheels. But I also love spending time with my family, my dog Rocco and my two little nephews.”

That positive attitude and love of the simple things has helped Moioli bounce back from adversity to maintain her position as one of the top riders over many years. Make no mistake, she will again be fighting for another Crystal Globe this year, and another Olympic medal in 2026.

Racing in Cortina d'Ampezzo begins on Friday 14 February with finals on Saturday 15 February in the evening.