Swiss ski boss enthusiastic about Gut-Behrami: “Lara is even stronger than before”

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

Even at 32 years and 6 months, Lara Gut-Behrami is far from being a thing of the past. She proved this with her victory at the season opener in Sölden. Despite physical problems (“I’m on my period, I feel catastrophic”) and what feels like ten percent less strength, she achieved her 38th World Cup victory. Gut-Behrami has won at least one World Cup victory in thirteen winters – only her former role model, Renate Götschl (48, Austria), precedes her with fourteen.

Swiss ski president Urs Lehmann (54) is delighted: “Lara is even stronger than before. In recent years she has found inner peace, an inner center. She is very mature, you can tell that from the conversations. I am deeply impressed.” The Ticino woman knows exactly where to slow down in training and when to accelerate again. “She brings all the elements together very well.”

Large Kondi blocks in Spain

In fact, Gut-Behrami seems not only mentally balanced, but also extremely trained. Although she had fewer ski days in the summer than ever before, she invested a lot in fitness training. She spent two weeks with her Spanish coach Alejo Hervas in Granada (Sp) and worked on her form. “You need a good foundation to hopefully get through the winter healthy.”

The beginning has been made. “Now I want to continue like this,” Gut-Behrami announces. “It’s not easy, but it’s good to have been on the highest podium.”

Back to Lehmann. It is clear to the association boss that Gut-Behrami will not win one race after another. “For example, if visibility is poor, Lara might not risk everything. She has the bigger picture in her mind. It’s like this: when you’re 16 or 17, you go into the race almost blind and take more risks. Lara had her injuries, she learned a lot from them.”

“The switch can flip overnight.”

And how long will Gut-Behrami continue? “I want to benefit from ski racing for a few more years,” she said recently. However, Lehmann also knows that that means nothing. “Whether or not you, as an experienced athlete, still find the motivation is a balancing act. Sometimes the switch goes on overnight.” We saw that last winter with Matthias Mayer (33, Austria) and a few days ago with Lucas Braathen (23, no.) – they suddenly resigned.

The fact is: if Gut-Behrami were to seriously injure herself again after tearing her ACL in 2017, she would hardly return. Lehmann mentions another aspect: “Lara has won everything there is to win. She sets the bar very high for herself. She certainly doesn’t want to finish around 20th or 30th. But fortunately that is not the case at the moment.”

Gut-Behrami is now taking a week’s break from skiing to recharge his batteries. She will then train in Super-G before starting her first training for the descents on the Matterhorn on November 15. “It goes fast,” she says with a smile.

Source : Blick