“Golden Girl” Anna Schaffelhuber won the 12. You can drive down the Olympic slopes, but if you are standing in front of the baker with your wheelchair, in front of the theatre or in front of the town hall and there are three steps, one brakes down. More has to be done”, said the five-time gold medalist from Sochi in the Sportbuzzer interview.
The 25-year-old from TSV Bayerbach added that there is still a lack of access to strength and fitness rooms and physios in amateur sports.
Schaffelhuber, who starts on Saturday in the descent into the 2018 Paralympics, has been a role model in disabled sports for years,”I grew into it. I am often approached, and I am also happy when children on the slopes ask me how it works with monoskiing, when people ask me about selfies, congratulate me – and my sport is perceived with it. This is also a form of appreciation,”she emphasized.
Since Sochi in 2014, where she had scored five victories, attention has been “steadily rising. But nevertheless:”The sport is not yet where it should be,” said Schaffelhuber. After all, since last year there has also been the possibility of being “employed by the federal government or customs authorities. This gives us a completely different kind of support. But it was a tough fight.”
Schaffelhuber is currently completing her teaching studies. She has already passed her first state examination, the second one is to follow the Paralympics in South Korea.