Goodbye old skiing love: Karoline Pichler is reinventing herself

Giant slalom can easily be described as Karoline Pichler's first love in the ski circus. In this discipline she won her three victories in the European Cup, in this discipline she achieved her first top results in the World Cup and in 2014 in Jasná she was named vice world champion among juniors. But now this love seems to have withered a bit: the 28-year-old has decided not to compete in giant slaloms in the coming season and instead to focus everything on the speed disciplines, especially the Super-G.

“There have been considerations in this direction for a year or two,” explains Pichler SportNews. “I recently competed in giant slalom, super-G and downhill. Three disciplines, that's just a lot. If things don't go well somewhere, you simply don't have time during the season to work on it specifically because there are races almost every week." Then why did the giant slalom hit? “In recent years, giant slalom has been the discipline in which I have struggled the most. I would also have needed a lot of time here to get a good starting number again.”

Constantly in the top 30 in the speed category The numbers prove this fact. In March 2022, Pichler finished 26th in the giant slalom and made it into the top 30 for the last time, but in the past two winters she made it into the points eleven times in the speed disciplines. The Petersberg native performed particularly well in the Super-G and achieved her best career result with 13th place. And that despite the fact that she has only been competing consistently in the speed disciplines for two years, having previously only been active as a giant slalom player for years.

Wants to attack in the speed disciplines: Karoline Pichler.

It's not a given that Pichler still skis professionally. When she was in her early 20s, she suffered four serious knee injuries within 33 months. The Unterlander fought back in an exemplary manner, but then another mishap happened last January. During training, the now 28-year-old “Karo” fell and injured the cruciate ligament in her left knee, which she had already torn twice in her career. It cannot be clearly determined from the examination images whether the ligament is still connected after the fall or is completely worn out. “If I have to operate again, I won’t go through the whole thing again.” Caroline Pichler “At first I thought that was it. Because after the many injuries I had sworn to myself: If I had to operate again, I wouldn't do this to myself again." The blessing in disguise: The injury "only" affected the cruciate ligament, the collateral ligaments and menisci are intact. “Because the knee is still in good shape and very stable, I and the medical team decided to try it without surgery.”

Looking forward to December 8th A decision that has paid off so far. Pichler has to put a lot of work into her physique and has basically trained through the summer - with the exception of a five-day trip to Dubai. But it's paying off, because so far the woman from Petersberg has been able to ski without any problems. And this year Karo Pichler wants to attack. The first Super-G will take place in St. Moritz on December 8th, and the Petersberger woman is looking forward to it. She has long since fallen in love with her new discipline.

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Goodbye old skiing love: Karoline Pichler is reinventing herself

Next weekend the new ski season will begin with the women's giant slalom in Sölden. However, you won't find one name on the start list: Karoline Pichler. The woman from Petersberg is breaking new ground this winter.

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