Technical talent Selina Egloff (22) returns to the snow after a break from skiing: “I’m having more fun than ever before.”

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How about just giving everyday life the cold shoulder? Listen to yourself and don’t care what others expect of you? Ski talent Selina Egloff did exactly this. Before last winter, she said quit – when she was only twenty years old. The Graubündenner from Scuol sat out a season, including summer training, preparation and racing. She was not injured. She also felt the support of her environment and family. But Egloff wanted to break free from the hamster wheel of everyday skiing.

“I needed some time away from ski racing because I felt physically and mentally drained,” she says. The decision was right. Perhaps it was essential not to give up begging at some point. “Today I am having more fun on the skis than perhaps ever before and I am extremely motivated to try again next winter.”

Caught in the ski hamster wheel

But what exactly was bothering Egloff? In conversation you quickly notice: the technician, who was once considered the greatest talent in Swiss skiing, does not want to look back for long. But she says: “The pressure of constantly having to deliver was great. I don’t blame anyone but myself. My expectations were probably too high, I emptied my energy tank myself.”

Eventually it becomes clear: Egloff wanted to move away from the rigid calendar that had guided her since she was sixteen. At the time, she won the Graubünden Championships in all three disciplines (slalom, giant slalom and super-G), her talent was clear.

“I watched ski races on TV”

Egloff rode her mountain bike more often, went out with friends and spent time with her family. There were also ski trips in the middle of winter. “And I watched ski races on TV,” she adds. In short: Egloff did what she had previously hardly found time for.

“However, I quickly realized that I needed some structure. And because I always enjoyed working with children, I decided to study at the Educational University in Chur.” She enjoys the course and has already assisted students during internships. “I feel much more comfortable with that than in the presence of adults,” she says, laughing.

“You don’t forget that so quickly.”

Egloff could well imagine that he would one day work as a teacher. To this end, the woman who describes herself as a coward (“I don’t do alpine skiing or Super-G”) wants to regain a foothold in ski racing.

She has already made a start; she has shown good progress during training on the glacier and in the Argentinian winter. No wonder: “When I had racing skis on my feet for the first time after my break, it was immediately the same as before – I don’t think you’ll forget that so quickly.”

The joy must no longer be lost

And what has Egloff learned about herself since her hiatus? “I used to only ski. Now I have discovered that there is something else that interests and fascinates me.” That gives her more peace and makes her more relaxed. “And it takes away some of the pressure,” says Egloff.

She does not formulate goals for next winter. The World Championship, in which she has already participated in five races, is not an obsession. “I don’t look too far ahead. It comes, as it should. I will give everything, but in such a way that the joy is not lost.”

Source : Blick