She was and is one of the greatest talents the mountain bike world has ever seen. Extremely technically adept, strong in sprints, courageous, persistent and always motivated down to the tips of her blonde hair. Even as a young girl, she beat everyone and everything on her mountain bike. First in her home country of Sweden, then quickly across Europe and the world. She dominated the U23 category for years, made the leap into the elite ranks early on and was able to ride further and further to the front. Small mistakes that led to unforeseen crashes often thwarted her at first, but that was to change.
2016: The first World Cup victory and gold at the Olympics
At World Cup number four, 2016 in Lenzerheide, just a few days after Jenny Rissveds' 22nd birthday, the hammer fell. And Jenny was finally standing at the top of the podium with a bottle of champagne in her hand and the golden trophy on the floor in front of her! Then everything happened very quickly. Barely two months later, the Olympic women's race took place in Rio de Janeiro and Jenny Rissveds promptly won the highest honour you can earn in cross-country: the Olympic gold medal.
At the start of 2017, everything was still fine and it looked as though Jenny Rissveds would start the new season as the favourite. A resounding victory in the mixed classification of the Cape Epic together with team manager Thomas Frischknecht was certainly a good sign. Then, shortly before the first World Cup, Scott cancelled: "Jenny won't be taking part in the race". And the same for the next race. And the one after that. And so on.
Jenny Rissveds speaks openly about depression
In mid-2017, she was briefly seen again at a World Cup race, but she remained in the lower ranks and retired early. She was unable to take part in the World Championships in Cairns anyway due to an unpleasant dispute with the Swedish Cycling Federation over sponsorship.
Since these setbacks, the young athlete has become increasingly courageous. First cautiously and in hints, then more and more openly, she spoke about what, apart from the external factors such as the stress associated with the Olympics and the family crisis following the death of both grandfathers in a very short space of time, was the real reason for her absence from racing: her depression. Now she has made a decision. She is leaving Team Scott Sram MTB with immediate effect and ending her career as a professional mountain biker, for the time being indefinitely.
"I am very grateful for the years with Thomas and the Scott-Sram team. They have always supported me and without them I could never have achieved what I have done on the bike in recent years. I would also like to thank Scott Sports for their endless support and for always believing in me last year. I would love nothing more than to remain part of the team, but of course that is only possible if I can contribute something. And unfortunately that is beyond my capabilities at the moment. It wasn't an easy decision for me to make, but I think it's better for everyone involved and it gives me the best chance of coming back at some point, faster and stronger than ever before," Jenny said in the interview.
Team manager Thomas Frischknecht, who has had a close friendship with Jenny Rissveds for several years, is also visibly struggling with the balancing act between his role as head of the racing team and his role as a friend. "The entire mountain bike community, and especially the Scott-Sram team, is incredibly sad about what happened to Jenny. In order to recover, she needs to be free of all commitments and I not only respect her decision, but I also believe it is the best way for Jenny to get back to a balanced life. I am sure that one day she will return and I hope that we can be there to support her a little on that journey. Our door will always be wide open for her and she can become part of the team again whenever she wants."
Jenny Rissveds has made a difficult but important and, above all, far-sighted decision. You can tell that the decision cannot have been easy for her. Letting go is never easy, even after a year like the last one. But depression always leaves you in the mistaken belief that things will get better (by themselves) at some point if you just keep trying. It is more likely, however, that in Rissveds' case it would only have prevented further sporting successes, not to mention indisputable private setbacks. It is now up to her to fight the disease with all the means at her disposal. It won't be easy, but she has already taken the first steps in the right direction. And so there is only one thing left for us to say: Jenny, we wish you all the best!
Adrian Kaether
Editor
