Marlen Reusser's last race was on May 19, 2024, and it is not possible to predict when the Bernese athlete will be able to race again. In an emotional interview with SRF, she talks about her current situation.
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- In the SRF documentary "Gold, bad luck and passion", Marlen Reusser talks about her epidemic year 2024 and the post-Covid syndrome she suffers from.
- The 32-year-old athlete from Bern struggles with increased symptoms and fever due to the illness, even with comparatively little exertion.
- "It's not certain that I'll recover," says Reusser, who is still unable to train competitively.
- The Swiss cycling star therefore wants to focus fully on her own health.
The big dream of winning the Olympics in Paris or triumphing at the home World Championships in Zurich vanished into thin air for Marlene Reuss this year. With her history of suffering, the 32-year-old's goal was not even remotely achievable.
The year 2024, of all years, which she had long marked in her agenda and in which she wanted to be "the best version of herself", turned out to be Reuss's epidemic year - with a Covid illness, various upper respiratory tract infections and a serious crash at the Tour of Flanders at the end of March. In this crash, the Olympic silver medallist in the Tokyo 2021 time trial suffered fractures to her jaw, both ear canals and eight teeth.
Still no competitive training
However, Reusser overcame the injuries sustained in Flanders surprisingly quickly. He returned to competition mode as early as the end of April, with remarkable performances in three tours in Spain.
After that, however, racing was already over again. Last year's winner Reusser had to forgo participation in the Tour de Suisse in June. She had a high temperature for four weeks and was unable to train on her bike. This was followed by the forfeits for the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Zurich.
The reason: Reusser suffers from post-Covid syndrome and struggles with increased symptoms and fever even with comparatively little exertion. Whenever she makes an effort, her body suffers. The Bernese athlete is therefore still unable to think about competitive training.
"I'm chronically ill at the moment," says a visibly struggling Reusser in the SRF documentary "On gold, bad luck and passion"."There are times and moments when things get better and when they get worse. But it's always not good," says the 32-year-old, bursting into tears.
She doesn't often talk about the subject, Reusser admits. "There are phases when things are so bad that I just don't do anything. There have also been phases when I'm lying in bed in a semi-comatose state and my mind is in a kind of limbo."
Sometimes she also feels energetic and has plans, "but as soon as I want to put them into practice, I get knocked out". She is "chronically ill at the moment".
"I need a lot of patience"
The doctor, who took up cycling at a comparatively advanced age, knows what is now required in her case: "I need a lot of patience. There are people who don't recover from this." She was probably too arrogant on the road because she always thought she would be fine.
"I had simply decided that I was healthy again. And then I overdid it," says Reusser about the time before the World Championships. "Then it really hit me in the pan."
"Now I have a lot more humility," the Bernese from Hindelbank continues in the SRF interview. "I can't be sure that I'll get better. That's a special perspective, but I don't want to get too caught up in it."
Marlen Reusser leaves it open as to when she will be able to tackle the next steps on her way back in the coming weeks or months. The three-time European time trial champion and two-time Tour de France stage winner and world championship silver medalist in the time trial have a lot to settle. Including the question of which team she intends to ride for from 2025. Her contract with the SD Worx team, which she joined in 2022, expires at the end of this year.
Getting healthy again at all
Reusser says towards the end of the SRF documentary that "I have the next season in my head, but not in my hands. I've learned that in the meantime. It's not me who can decide, it's decided for me".
World Championships, Olympics, almost the whole season, "I simply had to let everything go. I couldn't train or do anything else. The focus is now much more clearly on my health and on getting healthy again".
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