ELISA BALSAMONew Zealand

This adventure in New Zealand is over and I’m satisfied but disappointed.

In the team pursuit me, Martina Alzini, Marta Cavalli end Letizia Paternoster did some good times, especially in the bronze medal’s final we did a great 4’18”0, just 2 tenths over the Italian National Record! Despite that, two teams, New Zealand and Canada, were faster and we could only reach the 3rd place. This result is helpful for our Olympic journey, but it also demonstrate us that if we want to compete with the biggest we have to be even faster. It doesn’t mean we aren’t happy, in fact if you see the competition’s photos the first thing you can notice are our smiles, considering that the middle age of this group is 20 years!

In this World Cup I also had the opportunity to take part at the Omnium. It was going well: with a 2nd place in the scratch and a 6th place in the tempo race I was in the 3rd general position when the elimination race begun. Unlucky I crushed and I had to go to the hospital because of a very painful left arm. Thankfully it wasn’t broken, just a bad crush.
Because of this accident I couldn’t take the chance to finish the omnium and I’m really disappointed.

Yesterday we changed the location and flew to Hong Kong were the last World Cup will take place, I’ll keep you informed about my health conditions and the competitions I’ll take part!