Emma Aicher, skier from Germany. © ANSA / KIMMO BRANDT

This hurts twice: failure and hand injury

The German-Swedish ski racer Emma Aicher was eliminated from the Slalom World Cup in Vermont at the weekend. One day later, she posted a picture of the injury she sustained during the competition.

05 December 2024

From: sn

The 21-year-old athlete from Mahlstetten will not soon forget the last World Cup weekend in Killington, USA. In the giant slalom on Saturday, Aicher initially showed promising approaches and was able to secure some World Cup points as the best German in the second run. Sunday also started well: In the first slalom run, she just missed the best result of her career and ended up in seventh place. In the second attempt, however, a gate error caused her to be eliminated after just a few seconds.

The next day, she posted a message on Instagram and explained what had happened. She said she was grateful and said she was in "solid shape." The same could not be said for her hand, however. In a short video, the 21-year-old presented her severely swollen hand. At the same time, however, she gave the all-clear: "Everything is fine, just a little bruised."

Humor is the best medicine

Instead of a possible top placing, all that remained was disappointment and a bruised hand. Nevertheless, Aicher takes it with humor and reflects: "Bittersweet weekend, I was able to get some giant slalom points and deliver a solid ski. Yesterday was tough though: I'm happy with my first run, so I'll take that with me. The rest remains to be seen. Oh, and don't hit your hands against the gates, that really hurts."

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDFZdCvRyjl/?img_index=10

The positive way she deals with setbacks shows the fighting spirit and maturity of the young athlete. Aicher has already proven several times that she has great potential and can keep up with the best slalom skiers in the world, for example at the 2022 Winter Olympics and various Junior World Championships, where she won silver medals. The disappointment of missing out on a top result should motivate her to continue to work on details in training.