sportFACHHANDEL fashion_09_2016

not exactly avoid risks. No matter which
jumps, we always wanted to go further.
Above that, we used to jump down from
everywhere. We were quite a wild bunch.
I was always together with older children
and I, as the youngest, was always the one
who had to try the jumps first. They always
cheered me, applauded me and encouraged
me to venture the jump. Young as I was, I
didn’t realise their mockery. Nevertheless, it
was an amazing time in my life and I found
many long-lasting friends there.
Who was your idol as child? Alberto Tomba!
When I was seven or eight years old, my
father drove him to the Munich airport after
the race in Garmisch and I was allowed to go
with them. Alberto gave me a bubble gum. I
didn’t touch it for five years and then I lost
it. And once, at a children’s race in Brixen,
Alberto was the patron and I stood at the
winner´srostrum and got the cup from him.
This was really awesome!
Do you remember your first victory over your
mother? Frankly, this was never an issue,
perhaps in case of “Mensch ärgere Dich
nicht” (popular German board game).
And what about the first victory in a race over
your father? Ditto.
Every boy wants to show his father his talent.
What was your motivation? My idol was
Alberto Tomba and I wanted to ride just like
him. My father showed me how to do that.
My father was a wonderful counsellor and
inspired me very positively. You can motivate
young people only with encouragement and
understanding. I never wanted to defeat my
father. We competed only for fun. If you
want to have success in competitive sports,
you should have other values.
Did you and your father always have a good
relationship? A wonderful relationship, but
we always had a lot to argue and often
very contradictory views – just like in all
families. The subject school was really an
issue. School was always a thorn in my side.
I wanted to quit, but my father insisted on
it – no skiing without university entrance
qualification. Nowadays, I am glad that he
remained firm in this matter.
Your dream job as a child? Skier!
And if it hadn’t worked out? I had no plan B,
apart from the luck that I have a family with
which nothing could go wrong.
Do you remember a special occasion in your
ski racer career that made you a grown man?
Maybe the Olympic Games 2006 in Turin.
Everything went wrong there. Afterwards,
my father and my head coach had a few
serious conversations with me and I
realised that I had to change my attitude.
A life-changing experience that made me
think, ‘Boy, it is time now to put up a fight
and make the next step.’ This means, to
live entirely for the sport, for example,
intensifying my workout in the gym, instead
of having fun with my friends on a sunny
day.
Meanwhile, you have become a model for
swimwear, for the producer Speedo. Therefore,
the magazine Ski Exclusiv refers to you as
“Johnny Weissmüller of the snow”. Do you go
swimming in winter as well? Yes, because I
have to stay in shape and swimming is an
extremely effective counterbalance.
Breaststroke or backstroke? I prefer doing the
crawl. I know how to do it, because I had an
advanced course in long-distance swimming
at school. It was even part of my final exam
and thus, I am practised in it.
The experience of Turin 2006 made you an adult
as sportsman. Did you have an experience in
the private area which helped you becoming
a grown man? Mostly, you cannot separate
the personal and the professional world.
In Turin, I did not just grow up as skier,
but also as a human being – an important
negative experience which had a positive
result in retrospect.
Eight years after this crucial experience, in June
2014, you initiated the campaign “Beweg Dich
schlau” (do sports in a clever way). Why? Over
a long time, I have come to understand that
a professional athlete is not limited to a
special kind of sports, if he wants to change
something. With the campaign, we try to
motivate children to do more exercise and
to do it in the right way. This was and is the
main impetus for me, a project of the heart
which I fully support. At the same time,
we try to motivate parents to jump on the
bandwagon.
How did you get the idea to start a campaign
for children? Already for eight years, I have
arranged a racing camp for kids in Sölden
in the Ötztal each spring. There, I gained
experience with kids and realised that I like
the work very much.
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sportFACHHANDEL
FASHION • 09/2016
© Speedo