“I felt worse than I wanted to admit”: Before the start of the slalom: Gisin is finally back to his old self

Sure, there was the ski switch from Rossignol to Salomon. The ski boots were also literally pinching – she had an infection in her feet. Gisin lost self-confidence and (except in Super-G) rode poorly for her standards – not always, but far too often.

But it was also crucial that the two-time combined Olympic champion did not perform at her usual level physically. “I was worse off than I wanted to admit,” she admits. Gisin suffered from the long-term effects of mononucleosis, which caused her to fall low in the summer of 2021.

Shock during summer training

“I felt healthy and trained normally, but I always felt like I wasn’t recovering well. And that it doesn’t make me any fitter.” She is convinced that the infections in the winter were another consequence of glandular fever.

Gisin only tells this today, many months later. There’s a reason for that. “It took me this summer to realize what it means to be truly fit. During summer training I thought: what is going on here? There’s no such thing as how well I’m doing! I can do a lot more and see the progress, which is really cool.”

In my mind more of a downhill rider

In Lapland Gisin still bakes small rolls. The gap she made in the slalom is large. She can only dream of a podium at the moment. It remains to be seen whether she will ever return there. After eleven years, Gisin is no longer in the technical team, but is now part of the Swiss-Ski speed team. “In my head I’m more of a downhill skier than a slalom skier,” she says.

Perhaps this is exactly what will solve her slalom knot, as she recently trained in frigid conditions in the far north. One thing is certain: Gisin is back to his old self, at least physically. The conditions for a change for the better are present.