Olympics, short nights and the future: The big Visintin interview

The night was short. Silver and bronze winner Omar Visintin was only allowed 2 hours of sleep after his historic second place with teammate Michela Moioli in the mixed team event on Saturday. Then it was time to pack our bags, get in the taxi and head to Beijing airport, where the plane bound for home took off early yesterday morning local time.

The Algunder landed shortly after 13 p.m. CET, and after an eternity of waiting at the baggage claim (“but I had the medals in my hand luggage,” said Visintin), there was a small spontaneous reception surrounded by journalists and a delegation from the military sports group, his employer. Then we went back to Algund in a private car. Not knowing that him a spontaneous reception at home expected.

Beforehand, we had the opportunity to look back on the last few days, which completely turned Omar Visintin's sporting life upside down.

s+: After bronze, silver in mixed doubles. A dream, right?

Omar Visintin: “That’s how it is. The serious injury 2 months ago, now I have 2 Olympic medals. I would have signed immediately for this dream result.”

How did you experience this first team competition at the Olympics?

“I was very calm before the race, just looking forward to it. After bronze in the individual, I had no pressure and was extremely relaxed. Michela Moioli was pretty excited, even the night before. I constantly tried to calm her down. I think this mix of relaxation and excitement put us in the right mood.”

Did you have anything like a tactical plan?

“In the team event, the most important thing is to reach the finish and risk as little as possible. It would have been fatal if I had crashed and my racing partner would no longer have been able to start. I think I did everything right and struck at the right moments.”

In any case, you won silver and didn't lose gold, right? Even though Moioli was clearly in the lead at the beginning?

“I reached the finish line in the final almost at the same time as Baumgartner (only 0,04 behind). We knew Lindsey Jacobellis' strength. Michela got off to a dream start, Jacobellis was only in 3rd place, that's when you start to dream. But she has a lot of experience and is great on this slope. In addition, Jacobellis, as a so-called regular rider (left foot on the snowboard in front), had a big advantage in the penultimate corner over Michela, who, as a goofy rider (right foot in front), couldn't pull through there on the edge. But these are details and we clearly won silver.” Silver in a duet with Michela Moioli: The Olympic Games were a complete success for Visintin. © ANSA / MARCO BERTORELLO

Aren't you telling me you didn't celebrate the medals in Yanqing?

“The entire team was at Casa Italia in Yanqing after the race. We treated ourselves to a good plate of pasta there. FISI President Flavio Roda and some CONI people were also there. I went to bed at 1 a.m. and got up again at 3 a.m. because we had to go to the airport in Beijing.”

To whom do you dedicate this success?

“To all those who always stand by me. I think first and foremost of my family. Now I have to say thank you to so many people. It’s just incredible.”

What are you most looking forward to when you return? “I'm looking forward to my friend Natalie, my dog Baku, my family, my godchildren and my friends. It's the nicest place at home and I've already missed the good food. Hopefully I'll find the time to let everything sink in. Now I’m still full of adrenaline.” “I’ll keep going as long as I enjoy it.” Omar Visintin on his future Apart from you and Emanuel Perathoner, there are no boardercrossers in South Tyrol, not even among the young ones. What is the reason for that?

“I find it extremely unfortunate that nothing is being done in South Tyrol. I guess it's not up to the youngsters to practice this discipline. I've always received a lot of letters from young board riders who would be interested. We don't have a state squad; we place a lot of emphasis on the alpine boarders. I'm extremely sorry and I would like to do something about it myself. But I’m still active myself, so I don’t have time for it.”

In order to be able to train boardercross, you would need slopes. And preparing them isn't easy, is it?

“You don’t necessarily have to train on a boardercross course. I also did alpine skiing and went “hopping” away from it. You can slowly introduce young boardercrossers to normal slopes and the snow parks that are everywhere in our country. I hope that these 2 medals will bring about change.”

In 4 years the Olympic Games will take place in Milan and Cortina. Are you there?

“I’ll keep going as long as I enjoy it. Nick Baumgartner from the USA became Olympic champion with 40 on Saturday in Beijing. I’m looking forward to the coming years and lots of great races.”

Questions: Pauli Hintner/Andreas Vieider

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Olympics, short nights and the future: The big Visintin interview

The 32-year-old Algunder Omar Visintin won two medals at the Olympic Games in China. He is now back in South Tyrol - and has found time to talk to s+ about the past few days.

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