What a crazy World Cup season I've just had, with my first World Cup title, a knee injury before Christmas, returning to the podium in Japan and then the early end of the season – and all of this in the warmest winter on record, in which hardly any race was held in optimal conditions.
I'm pleased with my overall performance. As an elite athlete, you are always pushing yourself close to the limit. I'm still at an early stage in my career and I've experienced a real whirlwind of emotions over the past few months. In Beaver Creek, I achieved my first victory in the super-G. Starting with bib number 2, I definitely pushed myself over the limit. Against the odds, it all worked out. Following on from the euphoria of this, I came back down to earth just before Christmas. After suffering a knee injury on the giant slalom in Alta Badia, where I still ended up in fifth place, and an operation on my meniscus, I had to take a break due to the injury for the first few weeks of the year. Instead of being up there at the start line, I followed the races from the sofa at home in Buochs. Of course, I particularly wanted to take part in the race in Adelboden, but I was delighted that despite my injury, I was able to greet around 300 fans at the event. I would like to thank my godfather Paul, who launched the fan club, the fan club's management team and all my fans for the amazing support this season. As a ski racer, it feels fantastic to have so much support and it really means a lot to me. At the races in Kitzbühel, Garmisch and Saalbach, I gradually tested my body so I could return to giving it my all again, and achieving three top 15 positions gave me confidence that I was on the right path. But I was still missing that last ounce of confidence in myself and some ground speed. I deliberately gave the parallel giant slalom in Chamonix a miss. Instead, I took this time to work on my conditioning again for two weeks. This really paid off at the giant slalom in Japan. In the most difficult of conditions, I achieved second place in Naeba. It felt amazing to be standing on the podium again such a short time after coming back following my injury. I finished fourth in Hinterstoder, narrowly missing out on my second giant slalom podium place this winter. After pushing through my first run, I was able to fully attack the second run and really pick up speed again, just missing out on the podium by a hair’s breadth.
My efforts in the giant slalom were all about proving the partly excellent results I achieved last season, and if I'd had a little more luck in the first races and hadn't suffered the injury in Alta Badia, I would certainly have been able to further increase my performance. Overall, my good pre-season training in this discipline really paid off. Finishing ninth, I was the best Swiss national in the giant slalom World Cup standings. My goal is to remain a good giant slalom racer and to gain more experience in the super-G and in downhill racing. I am of course particularly delighted and pleasantly surprised that I achieved my first World Cup win in the super-G this season. I ended the Super-G World Cup with 203 points as the second best Swiss skier (behind winner Mauro Caviezel) in a very respectable seventh place.
The downhill race in Lake Louise (17th place) and Kvitfjell (25th place) counted as World Cup points. After the injury I suffered in Alta Badia and the resulting strain on my knee until the end of the season, I did downhill training mainly as preparation for the super-G races and in order to gain more experience for the years to come.
The first World Cup title of my career will always hold a very special place in my heart! St Nicholas must have wished me well on 6 December 2019!
I will certainly use these memories to give me extra motivation during the hard summer training and strict preparations for the 2020/2021 season.
The strong season as a whole and my two top-three classifications are the result of an outstanding team performance – from both my personal team and the excellent and equally motivating team spirit in our Swiss Ski training group. With the Swiss team, we won the Nations Cup again for the first time in over 30 years. And with Beat Feuz (downhill), Mauro Caviezel (super-G), Corinne Suter (downhill, super-G) and Loïc Meillard (parallel), we have no less than four crystal globe trophy winners.
My heartfelt congratulations go to my teammates.
A huge thank you to my supplier Stöckli and my technician Chris. To be able to win my first World Cup title on Swiss skis kept in prime condition was a true honour!
Last but not least, I would once again like to thank my main sponsor Helvetia and all of my premium partners and sponsors warmly for their ongoing support.
I am not only sponsored by great companies, but I also have some absolutely lovely and kind people behind me. Thank you for this great privilege.
And of course, I also count myself very lucky that my family, my management team and my fans are always “fully” behind me. During my time off due to injury, I was truly reminded of this once again. You are simply an amazing “troop”. The 2019/20 season is history. Bring on the 2020/21 season!
It is important to have something to look forward to and to be optimistic, especially at this time. The premature end of the last season was also a “strange feeling” for me. It goes without saying that there are more important things in life than a race or event being cancelled. The coronavirus is a challenge for the entire global community. The pandemic presents huge challenges to people, the healthcare system and the economy of the kind that we were not exactly prepared for. Solidarity in the coming months should not just be treated as a catchword, but must manifest as a reality.
I would like to thank all doctors, nursing teams and researchers who will be doing their best for us in the fight against this insidious virus in the months ahead.
Thank you for fighting for us at “full speed”!
