Rast (4th) and Meillard (5th) shine after tough years: the resurrection of the ski twins

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Before they couldn’t stand each other, now they are one heart and one soul: Camille Rast (24) and Mélanie Meillard (25). In the slalom in Jasna (Slk), the Valais women are among the best in the world: Rast comes fourth, Meillard fifth. “It’s nice that we are so compact at the front,” says Rast, also referring to Michelle Gisin (30), who finished sixth.

On the one hand, the compactness with which the Swiss slalom top performers is astonishing. Hardly anyone had ever believed this after team leader Wendy Holdener (30) was unavailable in December. The Swiss slalom winter was expected to be gloomy. On the other hand, there were signs of success: Gisin reached the podium in Lienz (Austria), Rast came fourth in Kranjska Gora (Sln). And Meillard? She increasingly showed that she was on the right track.

Great rivalry as children

But what about Rast and Meillard, who once couldn’t stand each other? To understand this, you have to look back at her JO years. Rast was 8, Meillard 9 years old. The two did not train together, but crossed swords during the races and were bitter rivals.

“You were sometimes jealous when the other person won,” says Meillard. Jealous? That was an understatement. “We hated each other,” Meillard admits with a smile. Rast: “There wasn’t much love between us in the beginning. But that was a long time ago, we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Not only that, Meillard and Rast are also the only riders left in the first technical World Cup group at Swiss-Ski after Holdener’s failure. “Mélanie and I push each other during training. “Sometimes she’s faster, sometimes I’m faster – that’s great,” says Rast. Meillard adds: “It’s nice to have a friend in the ski circus with whom you can talk about everything – and we laugh a lot too.”

For women’s head coach Beat Tschuor it is clear: “We miss Wendy. At the same time, an attraction has arisen: Mélanie and Camille have accepted the situation. They knew they had to perform and that is exactly what they do.”

Body loss tendon of a dead man

Both Meillard and Rast’s stars in the ski sky rose early, but burned out just as quickly. Meillard tore his ACL in 2018. She decided to use a dead man’s tendon for the reconstruction. An error has occurred. Her body rejected the foreign material, she had to undergo surgery again a year later, missed another winter and lost all confidence.

Rast, on the other hand, suffered from the effects of mononucleosis as a teenager before tearing her cruciate ligament in March 2019. Last winter she tried an experiment that went wrong: the passionate mountain biker switched from Head to Salomon. She corrected that mistake last spring and returned to her youth brand.

Meillard: “The path was not easy”

As similar as Meillard and Rast’s careers were, their qualities are just as different. Meillard is considered ski Mozart. Hardly anyone has such a good feeling for the snow, only a few are more central above the ski. For the sister of top technical talent Loïc Meillard (27), everything goes above her head: if she dares, anything is possible.

As in Jasna. “I’m happy to take this fifth place with me,” she says. It is important to have a better starting number. But also so that I know in my head that it will work. I come from very far away, the journey was not easy. Now I’m very happy.”

Rast: ‘Have to drive twice like this’

It’s different with Rast: she is more vulnerable, but has enormous strength. The training with Kondi guru Florian Lorimier, who also grinds Justin Murisier (32), is paying off. “Camille also has a great love for detail,” says Tschoor.

The nine hundredths missing from Jasna on the podium irritate Rast. But her best run in the second round, in which she even defeated series winner Mikaela Shiffrin (she won the World Cup for the 95th time), gives her courage. “Now I only have to drive like that twice,” she says cheerfully.

The happy conclusion? The Swiss ski twins are back – not just a little, but really.

Source : Blick