Lara Gut-Behrami talks to blue Sport about the huge mental pressure she puts on herself. Although she enjoys skiing, many of the feelings it requires are "not the nicest".
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- Before the start of the season in Sölden, Lara Gut-Behrami talks to blue Sport about the problems in her preparation and why they don't worry her.
- The 33-year-old also reveals why the summer is always much more relaxed for her than the winter with its many ski races: "You can't ski 90 percent and hope that you'll be fine."
- The overall World Cup winner also explains that the pressure she puts on herself puts a strain on her: "It uses up a lot of energy, I realize that it's slowly eating away at me."
Lara Gut-Behrami is starting her 17th World Cup season in Sölden. When asked what she does differently now than at the start of her career, the 33-year-old says: "I'm more grown up now than I was as a teenager. You go through life very differently at 17 than when you're over 30."
In an interview with blue Sport, Gut-Behrami also reveals why the World Cup races are a double-edged sword for her: "The aggression and all those feelings you need to compete for victories aren't exactly the best." She can take a more relaxed approach in the summer. In winter, on the other hand, it is always a matter of overcoming: "You can't ride 90 percent and hope that it will work. You always need 100 percent determination. It consumes a lot of energy. I also notice that it's slowly eating away at me. I like racing, I like skiing, but at some point the mental strain becomes too much."
This strain becomes even greater with Gut-Behrami's great success: "It's the pressure you put on yourself. I can't function without pressure." The Ticino native explains: "If I was at the start and thought I was enjoying life, I would stop at the third bend and say: 'That's it. I enjoyed it, it was beautiful. The sun is shining, why should I torture myself riding down here?"
Gut-Behrami explains that there is no external pressure: "When I'm at the start, it's because I really want to race. It's also what helps me to do well. But it does take a lot of energy."
The difficult preparation
Preparation for the season did not go according to plan for the Ticino native. In addition to a knock to her knee, she also had other problems to contend with: "The last month was pretty challenging, and not just because of my knee: I was still ill, so I couldn't do anything for almost three weeks. I lost quite a lot of muscle mass."
The overall World Cup winner is therefore not yet in top form in Sölden, but is still not worried. "The important thing is that I get fit for the whole season. I have another month after Sölden."
Gut-Behrami can also use this time to continue working with her new coaching team: "Starting from scratch always takes a lot of energy. And I can't say that I had a lot of energy at the end of last season. I realize that I still feel a certain fatigue." Although she won the overall World Cup last season, she still sees room for improvement: "You can ski every corner better. But the most important thing is that I'm doing well physically and mentally."
