Viktoria Rebensburg will not end her career after another Olympic gold medal in Pyeongchang.
“I have indeed thought about it for the last few months, but definitely: no! That’s not gonna happen. I still have so much fun, love my sport and enjoy it, it doesn’t depend on the Olympics for me,”said the 28-year-old in the SID interview.
Rebensburg (Kreuth) won gold in giant slalom at their first Winter Games 2010 in Vancouver and won bronze in their showpiece discipline in Sochi in 2014. In South Korea, she could go on 12. After Deborah Compagnoni (Italy) in the first race in February, she will be the second woman to become Giant Slalom Olympic Champion for the second time.
But such historical brands are “definitely not in my head”, said Rebensburg:”For me this is a race like any other. There’s a start, there are blue and red gates, and I’m trying to drive as fast as I can.”
The power density in the “giant” is “extremely high”, she said:”I think even the highest, there are many women on the podium. It’s the biggest challenge of all to ride in front, it’s got to fit.”
One advantage for them is that it doesn’t start as usual with the speed races “If you take the last big events, it was already the case that I always had to manage the balancing act between speed and giant slalom in the first week. This is no longer the case and also favours the speed competitions. I think that’s a great starting point,”she said.
On the window sill in the living room, where she keeps her medals and crystal balls, there’s room for more medals, Rebensburg said:”That’s the slightest problem with the whole thing.”