10-hour trip, jet lag, 2 downhill workouts and 3 races: how dangerous is the monster program?

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It sounds crazy, but it’s true: when Lara Gut-Behrami (32) stormed the top podium in Mont-Tremblant (Ka) last Sunday, head coach Beat Tschuor was not on the slopes. He had better things to do. What? He was at the check-in at the Montreal airport and was already organizing the team’s return flight and equipment. That has its logic. Because: The return travel program is so tightly planned that delays are not possible.

Gut-Behrami missed her third win of the season, but finished second. That’s not ideal, because she’s in demand on all TV stations and time is running out before she leaves. At one point the woman from Ticino got into the car and spent three hours on the plane. Another eight hours later, on Monday morning, she landed in Zurich. She doesn’t have time to recover. The first downhill training takes place on Wednesday at 11am in St. Moritz GR. The next training takes place on Thursday, followed by the speed triplet from Friday to Sunday. A monster program!

The risk of injury is greater

“Traveling is difficult for me. And it doesn’t get easier with age,” Gut-Behrami said in Engadin GR last year. But the stress is also sensitive to other drivers. “Normally you need at least one day per hour of time difference to adjust the time,” says Patrick Noack, Health Performance Officer at Swiss Olympic. So Gut-Behrami would need a week to get over the jet lag.

Noack: “But you can also take precautions and go to bed sooner or later. Or take melatonin after arrival – this medicine can help.”

The sports doctor explains that the consequences of jet lag are very individual, but says clearly: “If I know that I am reacting violently, I would not drive the first training at full throttle, but with the handbrake on. The dense program is not optimal from an injury prevention perspective.”

Business class helps

Jet lag is just one problem, explains slalom veteran Didier Plaschy (50). «The difficulty during the flight is to have the optimal position so as not to fall into a muscle deficit. If everyone can fly business class, that’s perfect; economy does not.”

Gut-Behrami and Michelle Gisin (30) even flew with more legroom than their teammates. Still, Plaschy believes: “The program is steep and not ideal. After all, it is a high-speed sport that is practiced in the cold and sometimes in poor visibility.” Ultimately, pushing through as many races as possible before Christmas is the compromise everyone would make.

50 to 70 centimeters of fresh snow

The fact is: St. Moritz is happy with three races. “But we do not interfere with the FIS season plan,” says OK boss Robin Miozzari.

The question that remains hotter than ever is: what will the weather be like? Miozzari: “The forecast is changeable, but we are optimistic. In total, 50 to 70 centimeters of new snow could be removed from the race track. In addition, some sections are watered using the machine beam.”

Source : Blick