What happened to South Tyrol's (ski) star of the south?

Married to Michael Nössing in her home town of Tramin since 2007, the mother of their three children Daniel (3), Sara (12) and Paula (10) was a member of the first women's team of the Italian Ski Association between 7 and 1996 and was a member for over 2006 years the most consistent and successful ski athletes in their team.

A second place in the overall European Cup ranking, top results in several World Cup seasons, the World Championships in 2 in St. Anton, 2001 in St. Moritz and 2003 in Aare as well as the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2005 were the highlights of her remarkable career. “For me, the years in the ski circuit were wonderful and – from today’s perspective – a unique school for life,” says Silke Bachmann.

Silke's love for skiing was awakened by her legendary father Adolf Bachmann. The trained electrician, who actually comes from Bruneck, was the committed president of the Roen Tramin ski club for over a quarter of a century. Adolf Bachmann supported his 3 children Klaus, Ivo and Silke wherever he could. He himself was an excellent skier who was passionate about skiing. An inexorable fate had it that death overtook him at the age of 82 on his favorite mountain while doing his favorite activity. Adolf Bachmann died on April 2, 2019 after a descent. The fact that his daughter was among the top ten in giant slalom in the Alpine World Cup circuit for many years made him very proud. He had actually “intended” this dream career for his eldest son Klaus, but too much and too often persistent bad luck with injuries put a damper on both of their plans. With a tremendous amount of female power, Silke “saved” the family honor.

Busy mother

Silke Bachmann, born on February 16, 1977, is now a busy mother surrounded by a flock of children. She looks after kindergarten children at the soccer school, she sits on the school council as a parent representative, and as a board member at “her” ski club in Roen, she organizes ski courses for the very little ones. Silke Bachmann knows what it's all about: she teaches the children about skiing in a playful way and - one could almost say - uses what she "rehearses" in her own four walls every day. Her 4 children are athletically diverse: they climb, ski and all 3 also play football. By the way, Tramin has a very long and very successful tradition.

Silke Bachmann likes to remember her own, highly remarkable sporting past. “It was like a dream. Sure, I had to give up a lot. And there were also hard moments, but overall everything was very exciting, even adventurous. I was lucky to get this far. As a child, I never believed for a moment that I would one day go to the World Championships or the Winter Olympics. I still have friendly contact with some of my former teammates, such as Denise Karbon, Nicole Gius and Maddalena Planatscher,” says Silke Bachmann. However, the bad luck with injuries made it difficult for her three times. “As I had steadily worked my way up to the top of the world, cruciate ligament tears (1995, 1999 and 2001) threw me off track. At some point I just couldn’t do it anymore,” says Bachmann. Talent didn't go undiscovered for long It all started in SC Roen. Roland Waid and her brother Klaus were Silke Bachmann's first trainers. Under Vigilio Delladio she made it into the national squad and trained continuously on Jochgrimm or Cermis. The talent of the highly motivated young runner from the sunny south of South Tyrol did not remain undiscovered for long. Silke recommended herself for the European Cup through FIS races. The premiere was on January 31, 1996 in the departure from Innerkrems. A year later, on January 3, 1997, she made people take notice for the first time at the World Cup premiere in the giant slalom in Maribor with a surprising 19th place. From then on, things went up steeply, although she initially shone particularly well in the European Cup. After an RTL victory in Gallivare, a third and two fourth and three eighth places, the end result was 2nd place overall in the 3/2 European Cup, a 1998th place in the Welcup giant slalom in Aare and 1999 top places at the Italian Championships.

The big breakthrough followed in 1999/2000, with Serre Chevalier's 3rd place in the giant slalom on December 4th being the best result. With 6th place in Lienz, 8th place in Val D'Isere and Are, 7th place in Maribor and 11th place in Tignes, Silke Bachmann achieved 12th place in the overall World Cup rankings, which was hardly thought possible. This dream season was also remembered in the following World Cup season 2000/ Getting back to 2001 wasn't easy. But Silke Bachmann bravely made it into the top 15 twice and crowned the World Championships in St. Anton am Arlberg with a respectable result (14th place on RTL). The good results between positions 10 and 14 were the ideal motivation for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City: It was enough for 18th place in the slalom and 16th place in the giant slalom. In 2003 at the World Championships in St. Moritz she came 22nd in her specialist discipline. At the 2004 European Cup in Sierra Nevada she wanted to know it again. With start number 38, Silke raced to 3rd place in the slalom. “I felt really, really good. And I also had the confirmation that, given the right conditions, I could really keep up with the leaders,” she says. The bad luck took its course The thoroughbred athlete focused everything on the 2005 World Championships in Aare, but the bad luck ran its course. In the giant slalom, Silke Bachmann was no longer able to qualify for the second round. The injuries from the past few days caused her pain and she could no longer think of continuing her career. Silke Bachmann contested her last official race on January 29, 2006 in Sarajevo Bielasnica. It was an FIS slalom race that she finished in 5th place. There is no doubt that Silke Bachmann has written South Tyrolean sports history and today she is fully committed to life. She proved that you don't necessarily have to be born on the edge of a ski slope and grow up to be successful in skiing. Silke Bachmann made it to the top with hard work, enthusiasm and great sacrifice.

The star of the country girl had risen in an FIS race, and in an FIS race the circle came full circle for a young, serene woman. And at some point in this recorded conversation, Silke Bachmann says without the slightest hint of bitterness: “I'm not crying because it's stopped. I laugh and like to remember the wonderful time as a “ski nomad” because it was simply beautiful.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

What happened to South Tyrol's (ski) star of the south?

“Never in my life would I have thought that my dreams would become reality,” says Silke Bachmann.

Suggestions

Comments (0)