She is only 26 years old: heptathlete Ruckstuhl unexpectedly resigns

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At the age of 26, Géraldine Ruckstuhl announced her immediate resignation. “It is not a short-circuit reaction,” the “Luzerner Zeitung” (LZ) quoted the heptathlete. “It was a gradual process.”

She still feels physically and mentally fit, “but my heart no longer beats enough to perform at my best in athletics.” She made the decision just a few months before the Paris Olympics. To participate in the French capital, the woman from Lucerne would have to score 6,480 points – 89 more than her current record.

«I started when I was 16 and loved heptathlon for ten years. That is not quite the case anymore. My heart no longer beats 100 percent for athletics,” explains Ruckstuhl, who held the Swiss record until 2022 (6,391 points). The absolute will to give 100 percent is no longer there. It was a difficult decision for her, but now she is happy because a big burden has been lifted from her shoulders.

She also speaks on Instagram about the fact that the fire for athletics has gone out: “I am someone who either gives 100 percent or lets go.” She thanks all her companions and will remember the many wonderful moments. But: “In life you have to do what makes you happy.”

Olympic frustration and health problems

But the last few years have been anything but easy for the 2015 U18 World Champion. Ruckstuhl, who was also crowned European U23 Champion in 2019, was left out of the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo. Due to a foot injury, she was declared unfit for the Olympic Games despite her place in the top 24 in the world. “This disappointment is still there, but I was able to deal with it,” she says, looking back. This was followed by two corona diseases and, in January 2024, a severe flu that left her bedridden for six days. Even then, she had thoughts about being fired.

And now the time has come. Ruckstuhl played her last match in Talence, France, in 2022. Or is there a chance of dismissal? Ruckstuhl to the “Luzerner Zeitung”: “I would never rule out something like this definitively. Even if the fire isn’t burning now, who knows what will happen in two or three years? Maybe then I’ll suddenly feel like running through obstacles again…» (che)

Source : Blick