Full on the face
It happened at the 2021 French Cup in Les Arcs. I was too hesitant when I jumped off, flew too short, got stuck, threw myself over the handlebars and bam! The impact broke my nose and I bit halfway through my tongue. Super painful. A crash like that is a blow to your self-confidence.
Leg off, ligament off
Too fast into the turn - levered out! These crashes happen in fractions of a second. You rarely know exactly what happened. I must have put my leg out stupidly. In any case, the fibula broke. Annoying, but I just had to wait; the bone healed without surgery.
Really annoying: my crash in Snowshoe 2021, because I was leading the World Cup at the time. I went off the line in training, drifted into a rock field and lost control. I hit my knee so badly that I tore my anterior cruciate ligament. The result: a blown World Cup lead. Instead: Surgery and rehab.
A matter of the head
Yes, crashes and injuries have left their mark in 2021. Last year, I had that stuff going round in my head. It's crazy how injuries bite into your subconscious. But now I've put that behind me and feel free again. Even without a mental coach and mind games.
Firewall
Muscles are your armour. They not only cushion falls, they can even prevent them. How? More power in your arms and you can hold the handlebars better or catch the highsider with body tension. I've been working with a trainer for ten years and I'm happy. My favourite exercise is the bench press. I weigh 74 kilos and press a maximum of 112.5 kilos. Not bad, is it? But I usually do ten repetitions, three to five sets and train the whole body.
Live healthy!
I like yoga. The stretches and posture exercises help me to feel better in my body. I practise yoga twice a week and do strength training three times a week. I don't have a special diet. Although I try to avoid junk food, I actually eat everything and I like eating everything.
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