Pain, the death of his brother, special FIS rules: there is almost nothing to indicate a Holdener comeback

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Will Wendy Holdener (30) return to the Ski World Cup in Åre (Sd) next weekend? Or maybe during the World Cup finals in Saalbach (Austria)?

93 days have passed since her last race. A lot has happened since then. In mid-December, she suffered a fracture in her left ankle during a violent start to training. Since then she has had a plate and four screws in her foot. “My chances are 50:50 that I will still ride this winter,” she said in January.

A lot has happened in the meantime – so much that there are serious doubts whether Holdener will be seen in a base home again this winter. Holdener got back on the skis, but stopped the experiment because the pain was too great. This has now improved, but is still far from 100 percent.

What the 30-year-old had to experience more than ten days ago is even worse: her beloved brother and manager Kevin lost his battle with cancer – he was only 34 years old. “It breaks my heart to think of living without you,” Holdener wrote on Instagram and posted a final photo with him.

Injury status as a sticking point

It is impossible to estimate how hard this fateful blow will hit Holdener and how much time she will need to process it. The fact is: there’s another reason that argues against a Holden comeback this winter.

Which? The injured status. Holdener doesn’t have it yet, but could apply for it – but only if she doesn’t run any more races this winter. In particular, if Holdener returns to the World Cup in the coming weeks, depending on the results (her own and those of her opponents), she could fall back on the World Cup starting list more significantly than if she did not race at all. and then applied for injured status. In the slalom she even threatened to fall back into the second starting group (start numbers 8 to 15) – a major disadvantage.

The conclusion? There is little or nothing to suggest Holdener will return to the World Cup early. It’s much more likely that she will take time to process what has happened over the past few months – mentally and physically.

Source : Blick