Fanny Smith feels ready to attack again. After a complicated winter, the 32-year-old ski cross racer is hungry for victories. New paths and a return to her former supplier should help.
The life of a ski cross athlete is made up of ups and downs. As a pioneer of her sport, Fanny Smith has experienced all facets: the joys of victories, titles and Olympic medals, but also the agony of injuries that are slow to heal.
Despite the low points, the Vaud native has shown impressive consistency over the last twelve years. She has finished in the top 3 in the overall World Cup ten times in a row and has been the season's best three times. Last winter marked a turning point. In ninth place, she was ranked further back than she had been since 2012, when she tore a cruciate ligament early on in the season.
After tearing a ligament in her thumb and spraining her ankle, Smith had to rethink her goals last winter. "No surgery was necessary, so my goal was to be fit again by the end of the season," she says. She was back at the final in Idre Fjäll after a seven-week break from racing.
With the Alpines and back with Stöckli
For the season opener these days in Val Thorens, Smith is ready to make up for last winter. To do so, she has broken new ground. She joined the Swiss giant slalom team of female alpine ski racers and trained with them for three weeks in Ushuaia, Argentina. "I really wanted to do something different. It was about rebuilding the base and getting the feeling back."
This was necessary because a lot of time had been spent testing equipment in the last two years and technical skiing aspects had been neglected in training. This was another reason why Smith returned to her roots, to Stöckli, after two years at Völkl: "I needed a change in 2022 after 13 years at Stöckli," she says. "I had two super rewarding years in which I was able to develop a ski for ski cross. But that requires a lot of energy. It's different in the alpine sector because there's usually a pool of testers, you're never completely alone."
Olympic Games in Livigno, World Championships in St. Moritz
When the 31-time World Cup winner from Vaud talks about her upcoming goals, she spans the arc to February 2026. 15 months from now, the next Olympic Games will take place in Milan and Cortina and the ski cross competitions in Livigno, just a few kilometers from the Swiss border and the Bernina Pass. "Unfortunately, there are no test events," regrets Smith. She hopes to be able to train on the course a few times before the Olympic competitions.
The Freestlye World Championships in St. Moritz in March will be another highlight first. "It's pretty unique to have a World Championships in your own country," says the three-time crystal globe winner. However, the timing of the title fights has its pitfalls: "The World Championships come at the end of the season. It will be a challenge to reach peak form at the right time, especially after the World Cup trips to Georgia and Canada shortly beforehand."
With regard to the calendar, Smith points out the great hardships that the athletes will have to take on. "In December, we compete in five races within ten days. With five runs per race, it's very intense." The FIS is aware of the athletes' concerns, but is not addressing them, says Smith. "We told the FIS that 21 races is too many. They replied that it's okay to take a break from time to time. It's great that we see this enthusiasm for ski cross. But it would be nice if the athletes were listened to."
