Hanna Schnarf: “I want to ski again in August”

In November it will be a year since you were seriously injured while training in Copper Mountain (USA). Have you analyzed the fall? How exactly did it happen and why?

Hanna Schnarf: “I watched the video, but there was nothing unusual. The weather was beautiful and the conditions on the slopes were ideal. It was during giant slalom training when my ski got into a groove and fell. It seems to me like there was something in the knee before, but that's just a guess. In any case, after the fall I immediately sensed that something was wrong. I had surgery in Vail that same day and the surgery went very well. The doctors in South Tyrol also say that their colleagues in the USA did a good job. The tibia and fibula were displaced, apparently I was lucky that it wasn't a complete breakthrough."

You've been on crutches and in therapy for the last few months. How are you today?

“I am now in my daily training routine and can do almost everything normally. Running isn't going quite well yet, and the strength isn't there yet when the left foot is under strain. I went to the Schliersee Osteocenter for rehab (once for 5 weeks, once for 4 weeks), and now I do a lot of physiotherapy at home. An x-ray will follow at the end of July and the next step will be to return to skis. That will probably be from mid-August, but I'll decide that at short notice. I'll probably go to the Stelvio, but that's not fixed yet."

After rehab at Schliersee

What have been the biggest challenges for you in the last few months?

“It was tough at the very beginning. When the screws were still in the bones, everything happened very slowly. My patience was severely tested. At the end of March the metal was removed and without screws everything is quicker and easier, and the muscles are also coming back. But it was a game of patience, now things are getting better from week to week." Hanna Schnarf trains every day – even alone at home.

After the fall there was a big question mark over your sporting future. The decision has now been made, will you continue?

“The 2018/19 season was actually supposed to be my last season, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. That's why: If my body cooperates, then I'll keep going. But the road is still long. First I have to see what skiing is like. Only when it's 100% right and I'm 100% fit will I get involved. Just driving around in the World Cup just to be there, that's not my thing."

Are you already thinking about your comeback in the World Cup?

“I don't really care whether I'm there at the start in Lake Louise or not. So I don't put any pressure on myself. The motivation is there, the 2020 World Cup final in Cortina is already inspiring me. But as I said, the first days on snow in August are crucial. I'm looking forward to it and the rest will become apparent."

The current list of injuries among women in the speed disciplines is long and prominent, from world champion Ilka Stuhec to Olympic medalist Ragnhild Mowinckel. What's going wrong?

“I can't judge that. It's true that quite a few top riders are out of action at the moment. But every injury is individual, so I don't think there is a specific reason why so many are injured." To person: Hanna Schnarf celebrated her World Cup debut in December 2004 at the Super-G in Lake Louise (CAN), and the Olanger native has now competed in 189 World Cup races. At the downhill in Crans Montana in March 2010, she made it onto the podium for the first time in second place, and she took her second podium place in January 2 when she came second in the Super-G in Cortina. 2th place in the super combined at the 2018 World Cup in Val d'Isere is her best World Cup result, at the 2 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (CAN) she came fourth in the super-G, and in 6 in Pyeongchang she missed the bronze medal in fifth place by a measly 2009 seconds.

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Hanna Schnarf: “I want to ski again in August”

Hanna Schnarf from Olanger has been out of action for almost a year. In a training fall in November 2018, she suffered a complicated fracture of her tibia and fibula. The speed specialist's sporting future hung by a thread. SportNews met with the 34-year-old for an interview.

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