Great Polish hope returns to P¦. She set a clear goal. “It doesn’t paralyze me to”
For alpine skiing in Poland it can be like Adam Ma³ysz for ski jumping. Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel blazes the trail and from year to year she makes her way to the top. Last winter, it actually settled down in it, because it was regularly in the top ten. Now it’s time for the next step.
The previous season was a career for her. As the first Pole in history, she was in the top ten in the overall giant slalom in the World Cup. At the Olympics in Beijing, she wanted to fight for a medal. She finished in a sensational eighth place, but who knows how the competition would have gone if it hadn’t been for a sore back.
Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel still believes in the greatest successes. It is a new landscape, another winter season in which he will fight for the first podium in his career. Start with the traditional racing in Soelden. She hasn’t done very well on the Rettenbach Glacier so far, but that doesn’t matter to her. – The fact that I have just had no success is not a curse. I am not tied to the place itself. So it was – says Sport.pl Gą sienica-Daniel, simply a Polish alpine skier.
Mateusz Król: I have the impression that I will only create the winter season, and this is where the World Cup starts again. In your case, is this time running out so quickly? Does hard training make this period extend and last forever?
Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel: I must have flew even faster than you.
Too fast?
– I have the impression that I just got back from China. The preparatory period and the summer passed quite quickly. We had little time to enjoy ourselves. Well, winter is just around the corner, so now it’s time to enjoy it.
Do you feel cooking?
– Summer has passed, so I have in mind that I am not ready for winter. But of course it is that you get used to it all over time, that it gets colder and colder. We also had a camp in Argentina in the summer, in a distant number of days, because we were there for four weeks in law and at the beginning of September. Summer has shortened a bit, but it’s okay. I’m used to. There is no way out, you have to be ready.
Is Soelden this moment worth being ready for, or is that moment really coming later? After all, the inauguration is at least a few weeks and now the current position is all for good.
– Soelden is fast now and these days there is not so much on the snow, so we always joke with each other that he is never ready. But to the first start in the World Cup series and to the gigantic one, which is very important to me. So of course it would be best to be well prepared for Soelden and keep in shape as long as possible, but you know, it’s very difficult. It is not easy to be in shape right after summer is over. Especially on a difficult route and difficult competitions, I will definitely come back to it, it is definitely demanding for each competitor.
And is there any purpose for you to overcome these last years?
– The question was often asked. If you weren’t asking such questions, I wouldn’t even think about it, because just treat it like any World Cup start. The fact that I have had no success is not a curse. I am not tied to the place itself. It just happened. Exactly in the season that I used to come back from my injury, it would have been two years ago, and I didn’t actually go well there. You have to remember, however, that this was my first start after a break of over a year. Last year I started very well from the top, but it just happened to me that I fell out. However, I emphasize that I have no bad thoughts about this route. No, not at all.
Soelden passes and you hardly remember it later. And when do you have such a moment that you are already connected with the competition?
– Really on the occasion of Soelden, because it is still possible to start after a longer break. In addition, it is a place where there is a problem with the fans and the atmosphere is mentioned. This here is great and here, the following here, will present a tuk in the belly. Later, the excitement comes in English. There are a lot of such starts then, practically every week. It really is getting more and more, so you fall into a trance. We then drive with proof of the competition and the conditions for a longer period.
What will Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel be aiming at this winter?
– This season, of course, will still be the dominant and main competition in which I will compete, but we would also like to start practically all the World Cup super giants. This is an additional goal. When it comes to results, he will be fighting for the best places for sure. I would like to end the season in the top seven of the giant. Of course, it is difficult to predict, but already in a new group. I didn’t make it, it was nine o’clock. I hope that we will be able to do it this season. And the main initiator of the ten seasons will be the World Championships in Courchevel / Meribel.
On a route that you probably like, because there have been great results recently.
– Not everybody thinks that, but in fact the route is different for the World Championships and the one we started in Courchevel. We will be going to Meribel and there a P¦ was played only once, last season in March during the World Cup finals.
I must give you a word, in the context of your career in recent years, you are very often. It’s about the podium. It’s annoying that you haven’t been in the top three yet, do you still have time?
– I don’t think that way. I am finally at the end of a career that I have worked hard for many years, so now I have a goal to take advantage of. Everyone under the profession, what can to stand. This is everyone’s goal. It is impossible not to think about it, but it does not paralyze me. I set it as my goal and of course I strive for it, because I am an athlete and I want to refer to it. After all, how many times can the sixth or the tenth?
It seems to me that the fans are happy for the time being.
– Sure, he’s happy. I believe that every result in the top “15” is a really good result, because the level in the giant in recent years is very high. And these are definitely good results. Each girl gives her best, each can have a better and worse day. And in fact girls who can stay on the podium and stay on top all the time, but also those who fight like me all the time. I think these positions in ten and fifteen are good. But of course I don’t just think about these places. I want to be better all the time and all the time I want to strive to just be the best I can. The truth is, until I win, I won’t have the feeling that I won.
You mentioned Argentina. There was no such trip in previous seasons. To be through a pandemic?
– For two years up to the last two with coronavirus. It was not possible to go to Argentina, although many teams planned to do so. This year, the trip was successfully completed.
What did this trip give? To a long way.
– No, it’s a bit of a road, but probably most of them are aware that it is in the other hemisphere, so there is a slightly different climate there. It is winter in the time when it is summer in our country and simply in winter winter conditions. The Ushuaia ski resort is very well prepared for players. There are many fenced routes especially for us. There are conditions like we have during starts. the snow is winter, not like on a glacier, the preparation is just like our training in winter winters. I think I’m helping to get a better feeling by the season.
Matteo Baldissarutti has appeared in your team. This is a man who worked with you a few years ago, but left for Slovakia. How did he come back and what are his tasks?
– Matteo of acoustics with us already four years ago and after one season he joined Petra Vlhova for three years, and in the year we met at one of the conversion factors and he said that he will probably leave Petra because she wants to start all competitions. As a result, the plan is very tight and is looking for a team and a competitor who will compete in a maximum of two or three competitions. Matteo wants to spend more time at home. A baby was born, so I think that I also have to go to this decision. He came up to us, so we suggested that he join. We were looking for a person who could help my Marcin Orłowski. I take Matteo became assistant coach. It can be said that they are both equal. Marcin is the main trainer, but I support and cooperate well in the work on the technique and other additional activities on the slope.
You mentioned a super-giant. Do you feel the improvement in driving this competition?
– For now, it is difficult to cancel, because there is very little training on glaciers when it comes to all competitions. Nevertheless, we try to do it as much as possible, it is simply not possible, because there are quite large whites, they are training lines on glaciers. But we actually did some exercises and I think it’s getting better. It is impossible to hide, you have to do those on long kilometers, hopefully take your speed and then it is always a little easier.
Athletes are often fans of other disciplines as well. As it flies out after winter, others will appear. There was a lot going on in Polish sport. Does Maryna Gąsienica Daniel have time to follow, for example, the activities of Iga Christmas?
– Respond and cheer as much as possible. I love watching tennis, I also like volleyball. And I cheer as much as possible. All athletes, including athletics.
About tennis for a reason, as you’ve probably heard that your friends from the tour Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are inspired by Iga. You will have a common topic for the winter with Michael because Lindsey is not driving anymore.
– No wonder, because Iga is a great player and she is doing great on the court. She is also a very good person who does all kinds of great things. I am not surprised, but unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to meet Iga in person, although I would probably really like to meet or even talk. But in fact, maybe Michael will have a chance to bring up this topic. However, we have a chance to meet with her a little more often.
The Australian Open will be in flood, so maybe the games can be repeated?
Maybe it will work.
I wonder if you would see yourself in the role of the heroine of alpine skiing, as Iga has become for the world tennis?
When asked …
Because being such a leader who has a voice on important matters is difficult.
Yes, I think it is really difficult, but I also think it grows up with good results. In the same lines of thought and it is easier to pick up and tend to be more service providers.
So first later you will think about whether to speak up?
You could say.
Are you afraid of something before this winter?
Honestly speaking, I didn’t think about it. Fear is not a good advisor.