Alpine SkiingINTERVIEW
pg fb Stefano Gross
Stefano Gross, the 33-year-old slalom player of the Italian team, will return to compete this season after his injury during training at Madesimo in November last year. A fall that cost him the injury to the cruciate ligament of his right knee, which got worse over time, even though the Fassa continued to compete for almost the entire season and then operated on March 23rd.
Wednesday 2 October 2019 5 minutes reading time
You have recently returned to skiing after a six-month stop. How did it go?
I've been skiing for a couple of weeks now. Until now I have done 4 days of skiing alone, without my companions. I was followed by Stefano Costazza, I did the first two days skiing free at the Stelvio to understand how he could respond to the knee and see how far I was. In Val Senales, on the other hand, I did my first day off-piste skiing and on the second day I found some pole nano. I'm happy, I had a pretty positive feedback. Now let's see how it will go in the coming days. Now I have left with the team for Saas Fee, in Switzerland. I will do a job differentiated from them, but it is already positive to be part of the group.
What kind of work did you do this summer?
Immediately after the operation, I took an apartment for a little over three months in Parma where I was followed by Luca Caselli, Fisi's physiotherapist and osteopath.
Will we see you compete in Levi?
The goal is to compete. It doesn't take so long, about a month and a half. I will do everything to be there.
What do you think of Marcel Hirscher's retirement?
Good question. Maybe I didn't expect it, our world will probably lose visibility without Marcel Hirscher. A lot of people followed the races for him and for us athletes it was an extra stimulus. It is a pity that it has stopped. There will be one more place on the podium at every race, but I am sorry that it will not be there, even just for trying to improve.
What would you have done instead?
It is difficult to answer. You have to be in the situation and know what are the valid reasons to take a choice like this. Stopping to compete as a winner is not easy. He had surely won everything. I think it was a decision given by all the stress and what surrounded him.
Without Marcel Hirscher, who will be the athletes who could compete for the slalom specialty cup?
There are many. With Marcel Hirscher it was difficult to conquer it, it was constant and always stood in front. Henrik Kristoffersen and Clement Noel are doing very well. It is also true that from one season to the next things can change and that therefore there could be growing athletes who can play the races. We hope to be Italians too.
In addition to Marcel Hirscher, another great champion, Felix Neureuther, also retired. Who will miss you more than the two on the track?
I agreed very much with both of them, but with Felix I had a closer relationship. I knew him well, we talked often.
This season there are no important events. What are your goals?
True, there are no World Cup and Olympics, but there will be 10 World Cup races. I come from an injury, so all the races will be important to get back in front and earn a place among the top 7.
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