Bobsleigh alarm for the World Cup at home: both Swiss team leaders are threatened with zero for St. Moritz

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These injuries to the Swiss bobsleigh dream couple came at the dumbest time. Because both Michael Vogt (26), the fastest Swiss pilot, and his girlfriend Melanie Hasler (25), the fastest Swiss woman, have injuries, the prospects for a top result at the home World Cup in St. Moritz are not rosy.

The bobsleigh entourage will be guests on the weekend of 13/14. January on the natural ice rink in the Engadine. But because the first training will take place next Tuesday, the Swiss top duo will run out of time. Vogt has been struggling with serious back problems since his lumbago at the season opener in China in November. It is the intervertebral discs that sometimes significantly limit him in daily life. It’s hard to think about sprinting on ice.

After the premiere victory, the pain came again

Looking back, it was almost a miracle that Vogt was pain-free in La Plagne in December and with the pair achieved Switzerland’s first World Cup victory in six years. Just a week later in Innsbruck, the back pain was so severe that the man from Schwyz had to get into the sled from the start of the four-man race and let his three teammates do the pushing.

At the moment, a podium finish in St. Moritz is just a wild dream, especially since Vogt will miss important training sessions on his home track at the Swiss Championships at the end of the year and in the training weeks of early 2024 due to his forced break during the holidays.

Vogt’s girlfriend won the title in the two-man bobsleigh at the SM. But the next day, Hasler suffered from overload in the monobob before the start of the second run. Now the Swiss Sliding medical department is working feverishly with patient Vogt and Hasler to somehow get her fit for the home performance.

Because although the men still have two pilots with top ten potential, Simon Friedli (32) and Cédric Follador (29), things look bleak for the women even if Vogt loses. Hasler is the only Swiss woman at the World Cup this winter. She could not be replaced because the upcoming talents such as Debora Annen (21) and Inola Blatty (25) do not yet meet the starting conditions for the World Cup.

Source : Blick