Marina and Nadja Kälin are experiencing a real home World Cup in the Engadin this weekend. Nobody knows the trails around Silvaplana better than the two sisters from St. Moritz.
24.01.2025, 05:00
24.01.2025, 06:54
SDA
Marina Kälin laughs when she thinks about the three days of competition from Friday to Sunday. Especially the 20 km in the free technique with mass start on Sunday afternoon with the start on the frozen lake of St. Moritz and the finish in Silvaplana-Surlej make her eyes light up in advance. Only rarely are there World Cup courses that are not run in loops with start and finish at the same place.
And Marina Kälin is certain. "Nobody knows this course as well as we do, we know practically every kilometer." We are 21-year-old Marina and her sister Nadja Kälin, who is two years older. Marina in particular has caused quite a stir recently. In February last year, she won gold at the U23 World Championships in Planica in the 20 km skating with mass start - the same discipline that will be skied on Sunday - and silver in the 10 km classic.
Marina Kälin is also very satisfied with this winter so far. At the start, she impressed with top places in FIS and Continental Cup races, then in the Tour de Ski she finished in the top 20 twice in the World Cup with 17th place (20 km in Toblach) and 15th place (sprint in Val di Fiemme). "Places in the top 20 are always cool," she says.
Move to Davos
The World Cup races in the Engadin, the first since they took over for Oslo in the coronavirus spring of 2021, are also a bit of a return home for the Kälins. A few years ago, they moved their training focus from their base in the Upper Engadine to Davos. Marina Kälin lists the disadvantages of this move. "The altitude is even better in the Engadin than in Davos, and I like the cross-country trails there better," she says with a laugh. But: the snow farming and the training opportunities with the other athletes in the national squad speak in favor of the Landwasser Valley.
Her older sister helped with the move. "Of course it's nice to have someone with you who you know well and can talk to," confirms Marina. And of course it was always a motivation to want to be better.
Three highlights to come
Now she is looking forward to her "comeback" at home. She will be in action on all three days, on Friday in the only mixed relay of the winter (4x5 km, with one man and one woman each skating and classic), on Saturday in the free technique sprint and on Sunday over the aforementioned 20 km. Kälin is particularly fond of the mixed relay, which will also be included in the Olympic program from 2030. "It's cool to run in a team competition," she says.
The second home World Cup after Davos before Christmas is just the first of three highlights for Marina Kälin, which will now follow one after the other. In the first week of February, she will try to repeat her good results from last year at the U23 World Championships in Schilpario in the northern Italian province of Bergamo, then at the end of February she will compete at the World Championships for the "big ones" in Trondheim, for which she has long since qualified.
