Karoline Pichler is harsh in her judgment: “Nothing worked”

Karoline Pichler will never forget January 15, 2019. At that time, the Regglberger raced to 42th place in the giant slalom in Enneberg am Kronplatz with the high start number 16. It was the best World Cup result for the 25-year-old South Tyrolean - and at the same time a reward for the hard times she had to endure in her career . Pichler's irrepressible will Pichler's injury misery began in 2015. At that time she tore the meniscus in her right knee, followed a year later by a torn cruciate ligament in her left knee. She worked her way back up and was looking forward to the start of the 2016 season, but another, even more serious injury put a stop to her plans. The posterior cruciate ligament, collateral ligaments and meniscus were torn, and a bone in the right leg was also affected. The career of the then 22-year-old was hanging by a thread - also because the cruciate ligament in her left knee broke again in September 2017. “I said that an injury cannot force me to end my career. “It’s entirely up to me to decide,” says Pichler. And she actually made her long-awaited comeback almost two years after the momentous fall and total knee damage in Sölden.

South Tyrol's best giant slalom player: Karoline Pichler © Pentaphoto

The consistently convincing performances, which culminated in the aforementioned Kronplatz race, surprised Pichler: “It happened unexpectedly quickly, the season was a very good one,” she says. The expectations naturally increased afterwards, “unfortunately I was unable to fulfill mine or the coaches’ expectations last winter.” She thought that everything would go easily after her comeback season. But it wasn't like that, on the contrary: "Not a single race was good, nothing really worked out," criticizes Pichler, who doesn't know the reasons for the mixed performance, but says that it had already started in the summer. “Not much came together in training either. The good feeling was gone.”

As a consequence, Pichler took a break after the first two World Cup races in Sölden and Killington and reset everything. “It made no sense to take part in the races because I knew that I would have had no chance of getting a good result.” After the break, the Petersberg native got a little better going, but the results still didn’t reflect her full potential. And because the coronavirus brought the season to an early end, she no longer had a chance to become the focus of the coaches. Squad exclusion should not be the end Their fears of falling out of this team were small at the beginning, as it was the first season in which Pichler did not deliver as usual. “But when I found out about the massive budget cuts, I expected to be excluded,” she emphasizes, admitting that she also thought about whether skiing was still right for her. “I took some time and asked myself, what makes sense, what do I have the confidence to do? And I finally decided that I would try again.” Now it would be too easy to raise the white flag, she claims.

With the police sports group she would have excellent training opportunities - and would also get new impulses from training in a small group: "It's very interesting to compete with men in training," says Pichler, who already had the opportunity at the Stelvio Pass at the end of June. training on snow. In addition to working with the sports group, the giant slalom specialist also completes training sessions with the WRA, the World Racing Academy, whose coach is a Vinschger native. “You have the opportunity to compete with athletes from all over the world. That’s definitely positive.”

When asked what her goal is for the next season, Pichler answers casually: “I want to ski as quickly as possible. Just as I can and even faster.” The stand-up lady is definitely capable of doing it.

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Karoline Pichler is harsh in her judgment: “Nothing worked”

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