Anna Veith returns to the tracks this week in Lake Louise. After her severe injury in 2015, the Olympic champion had to pause an entire season and interrupt her comeback last year for a new knee operation.
Now the Salzburg woman (28) feels much better and ready for a new attempt:”I’m burning for racing”, Veith says in an APA interview.
Question: After a long and difficult set-up phase in Lake Louise, you will return to the race tracks this week. What feeling?
Anna Veith: I am very much looking forward to it. The training phase was very long and it was important to collect kilometres. Now I’m burning for racing. I’m ready.
Question: In many respects, they were the best in the world in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Where do you stand in comparison to that today?
Veith: Of course, not yet there. But I have made my experiences and tried to become physically better. I am sure I am a few steps further than last year, but of course I am not there yet.
Question: How was the way back and where do you think you are standing?
Veith: The first snowy days were very emotional. I have consciously taken the time for physical training in order to get stronger again and to be able to ski better. It all went very well and actually I’m ahead of the plan. I am therefore very satisfied with the way things went.
Question: Your knees dictate the progress you last said. Is that so?
Veith: Right. I found my feeling for skiing quite quickly. The hurdle for me was always the physical aspect as well as the increase in training so that my knees do not overreact. We succeeded. Adjustments have always taken place, there has never been a step backwards.
Question: What was the biggest challenge during the last training session in North America?
Veith: As I said before, the feeling of skiing was quickly restored. But I couldn’t increase to a hundred right away, otherwise I would have fallen back again. In the case of tendon injuries, the adjustment takes place over a long period of time. I was challenged to be patient and not to want too much, to take breaks. It was a real test of patience.
Question: You have returned to the World Cup for the first time last season – late – and had to stop again. Where do you stand in comparison to that today?
Veith: Physically it is no comparison. Last year I was in constant pain. The right leg in particular was much less muscular, which is why I didn’t dare to do that at the time. There were good days like in Cortina and less good days like in Garmisch. That’s what I’ve been working on, so I’m on a completely different level now.
Question: Did you return too early last year? Was it a mistake?
Veith (smiles): If you look at the injured status and the world ranking, it looks like this. But when you see what I’ve learned, it was absolutely the right thing to do. I was away from racing for more than a year and a half at the time I started. I needed the racing experience and the feeling to be able to continue. I hadn’t forgotten skiing, only the physical conditions were missing.
Question: Especially the 2015 season was a real battle for the big ball. Then in the fall came the severe injury. Did you remember to stop at that time?
Veith: At the moment of the injury, I was sure it was over. The two seasons before that consumed so much energy. When I heard that the patellar tendon was torn, it was clear to me, that’s it, it will probably not work any more.
Question: What persuaded you to continue?
Veith: My environment has strengthened my back. I noticed who everyone is there for me and that I can’t give up. But it soon became clear that it would be a tough time.
Question: What exactly did you do then?
Veith: Focusing on getting well. But I have often asked myself whether it makes sense to go skiing, because there were demotivating phases in which nothing else happened. But thank goodness also days when I realized that skiing is my life. It was an extreme roller coaster ride.
Question: And today?
Veith: Today I am extremely happy that the decision to go skiing has been made. I feel it every day that this is my passion and that the fire is back.
Question: You are two-time World Cup overall winner, Olympic champion and multiple world champion. What is the motto of the upcoming career section?
Veith: It’s a bonus. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone else, I’m just doing it for myself. I think I can also enjoy it more, because I now know that this is not a matter of course.
Question: With the brand change from Cornelia Hütter, you now have a “team colleague” at Head. How do you work together?
Veith: We have the same serviceman and benefit from each other. Conny was also injured and started later than the others. But she was in Chile and brought the new long skis there on snow and did many kilometers. So she took my work away. On the other hand, it benefits from my experience. So we’re a good team.
Question: What are your concrete expectations for the return to Lake Louise?
Veith: It’s perfect to start there. I know the track very well and want to get a certain amount of safety in training. I don’t expect any wonders from the departure itself, I’ve spent exactly six days there in the last two years. The Super-G is the discipline that makes me feel safest. This is probably the fastest way to make up for the gap.
Question: What are you particularly looking forward to?
Veith: The feeling of standing at the start of a race is definitely not comparable to anything. I’m burning hard on it. I didn’t feel well watching because I would have liked to drive in Killington. But I’m not ready yet. I’m all the more pleased that I’m now off to Lake Louise.
Question: How does the winter continue in terms of operations?
Veith: To Canada it goes to St.. Moritz, then Val d’ Isere and so on. Maybe I’ll try the giant slalom in January, it has to fit. I’ve got a number after 30.
Question: You have now also trained in Nakiska, where David Poisson died recently. Was the topic here for you during the training?
Veith: When you’re on the piste here, you’re always confronted with David’s death and think a lot about it. But when you drive yourself, you just have to stay focused and work with concentration.
Question: In Austria, former racer Nicola Werdenigg denounced sexual assaults in the ski team. Your opinion on this?
Veith: I think it is certainly very important for them personally to make all this public. And very brave, too. It must also be possible to talk about and deal with such things in public. However, I find it difficult that the World Cup race has now been put in such a light that it is no longer true. Because it’s about the past. I can only speak for myself here – and say that I have never been confronted with anything like that.