With the Big Air on 3 November in Modena, freestyle snowboarder Anna Gasser will also start the season after Olympic gold. The Carinthian (26) also wants to win and win medals in the coming World Championships winter, but is currently fighting for fitness and form. The reason was ankle and ankle injuries, which she suffered after her gold performance in South Korea.
In March, Gasser tore the syndesmosis ligament in his right ankle during training on the Kreischberg airbag. In May, at the X-Games in Oslo, an inner ligament rupture in the left ankle followed. Both injuries were not treated surgically, the pain accompanied Austria’s athlete of the year until the summer snow training in August in Australia. Unlike her friend Clemens Millauer, she therefore decided not to compete in the first World Cup Big Air in New Zealand.
On European glaciers such as Saas Fee or Stilfser Joch, Gasser returned to snow training at the end of September. “But it will be a while before I’m 100 percent again,” the 26-year-old pointed out the consequences of the injury. Gasser knows how she can be fit in what is probably her first competition of the season in one month’s time in Italy: “It’s a matter of concentrating until then.
And not only for Modena, but for a generally exciting season. In addition to the Slopestyle Home World Cup at Kreischberg (January 11-12), the X-Games in Aspen, the World Championships in Park City at the beginning of February and the US Open in Vail are fixed points on Gasser’s calendar.
A year ago, Gasser would not have dared to dream of Olympic gold. Now, like Marcel Hirscher, she is an ÖSV figurehead and a sought-after guest at all contests. “Now it’s reality, that’s really cool,” Gasser looked back on the Olympics once again. Of course, the victory had changed a lot. “The internal pressure is less and it also makes things easier.” For example with regard to a now permanent physiotherapist. “We snowboarders have gotten a bit more budget. I hope colleagues will also benefit.”
The Olympic victory has relaxed Gasser. “He took the pressure off me. No one can take that medal away from me anymore.” On the other hand, she wants to build on past achievements and stay ahead of the pack. She had therefore considered what to do in the event of an Olympic victory. The answers were found quickly. “I want to continue to improve and become the best possible snowboarder. I have upside potential. I’m having fun moving on. I have air to the top to show even better jumps.”
The Austrian boarder had dominated the big air scene last winter. To stay ahead, Gasser also has to unpack new tricks every year. But there will never be an “unbeatable” Anna Gasser, the Carinthian assured. “The sport is developing so fast that I have to watch out in the other direction and make sure I stay in the top positions,” she pointed out. “More and more people are starting to play sports, so it’s hard to stay up there. All I can do is try. But you can’t stay undefeated in almost any sport.”
The fact that Anna Gasser is now known practically everywhere was demonstrated by her at the last Sports Day in Vienna. “It was much more than in the previous year,” the Carinthian had noticed. “But it was still manageable. My face is known, but of course still far away from a Marcel Hirscher.”
As a child of her time, Gasser is active in social networks, but as a familiar face he now increasingly reaches his limits. “It’s not always wise to reveal your location,” she learned. “And as an example, do not do anything rash.” Also some comments should not be taken too personally. “But I have a healthy sense of self-confidence, and it’s easy for me to ignore it.” Your tip for young people in dealing with the digital world. “One should live in reality and not only be in the smartphone. Much of what you see there isn’t real. If you don’t spend time in real life, the worlds can blur too quickly,” the Millstätt woman explained. “I’ll try to use my phone for one or two hours a day at the most.”
A plus point of the social media is that one can now market oneself in the way one wants to. “I can show things that classic media wouldn’t write. So it’s cool that I can build a little brand from my name.”