“People Are Afraid of Me”

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In a red bodysuit, Nicolas Huber, 28, runs through Beijing Airport, flips off the escalator and crawls into the overhead compartment of the plane. With such clips, the Zurich resident made a name for himself at the Winter Olympics in Beijing last year. Crazy? Doesn’t exist for Huber. “I’ve always been attracted to the freaky, the crazy. I like to get into other roles, to break social norms.”

Disguised as the Joker, Batman or Star Wars characters, the two-time Olympian regularly draws incredulous looks during his video shoots. “People often avoid me, some are even afraid!” Huber says with a grin. Nothing is annoying to him. If it hadn’t worked out in top sport, he probably would have ended up at drama school, he says. His reach on Instagram has grown so much in recent years that even ski highflyer Marco Odermatt can’t keep up. The nearly 290,000 Insta followers also benefit from the Zurich native in his sports career. The clicks attract sponsors, who in turn bring in money and enable Huber to earn a reasonable income from the sport. And yet: the most important thing is and remains the result on the mountain.

balancing act between entertainer and athlete

For the freestyler, his Instagram videos are both a blessing and sometimes a curse. “I struggle to slow myself down at times. When I have a script in mind, I can’t let go of the idea.” Upcoming competitions are no exception. The balancing act between entertainer and athlete is not always easy to master. “I have to keep asking myself. too many?”

This season, however, he has clearly struck the right balance. The resident of Zurich proves this at the World Championships in Bakuriani at the beginning of March. He took bronze in the Big Air category, for Huber that was satisfaction and proof that he can do more than just make funny films.

From shaper to pro

Huber’s story is as unusual as his social media appearance. At the age of 20, the Zurich native began working as a “moulder” on the Corvatsch. He prepares the kickers and pipes for the pros. He is on the board every day until the decision is made: he wants to become a professional himself. “People told me I was way too old for this. I could never catch up.”

But Huber does not give up and works on his dream every day. In 2017 he surprisingly became vice world champion slopestyle. Then he falls back to midfield. His competition is getting younger and bolder. At 28 years old, Huber is one of the oldest athletes in the freestyle circus. The eccentric is almost used to being hit by 16-year-olds. “There are kids who have been training like crazy since they were six. They are, as it were, bred for top sport.” For Huber there is only one thing left to do: train just as hard. “With 100 percent commitment, the will and a certain smartness you can keep up with these youngsters. I’ve proven it.”

Source : Blick