Werner Heel: "I was no longer competitive. I would have liked to have won a medal"

Werner Heel, former downhill skier of the Italian team, born in 1982, three victories and seven podiums, tells Neveitalia, after the farewell to the white circus, his adventure in the World Cup between dreams, successes, love and some difficulties in his 18 years career.

Friday 22 March 2019 6 minutes reading time

What made you decide to stop competing? I still wanted to go ahead and continue with the races, but I'm no longer competitive. I no longer even had the support of the Federation, which was also why I was struggling in recent years. What is the best memory of your whole career? Definitely the first World Cup victory at Kvitfjell in Norway. It was a great emotion, a magnificent moment. In addition to the three victories in the World Cup, you have obtained seven more podiums. What was the one that excited you the most? The third place in downhill on the mythical Streif of kitzbuhel. In these 18 years of career, is there any dream that you failed to crown? Yes, a medal or at the World Championships or the Olympics. It's a pity because at the Olympic Games in Vancouver I didn't succeed for a while, I finished fourth a few cents from the podium. Your career can be divided into two parts: the first where you were among the big with victories and podiums, the second where you struggled to achieve good results and you had to regain the permanent position in the World Cup. What was the reason for the decline? I changed the materials too often. In the best years of my career they asked me to move to Head, but with those skis I didn't find the right feeling. Then I went back to Atomic and got back on the podium. Later I changed materials again and left the 30s. I had no Fis points. I had to do European Cup competitions to get back the fixed place in the World Cup. I never had injuries, so it was a material problem. I had requests from companies. You are engaged to Manuela Moelgg, former athlete of the Italian team. How important was it to have a person doing the same job and your own life alongside? It was very important. After the races we discussed about skiing, about mistakes, about technique. We helped each other so much. We gave each other advice, we also did some athletic training together when we were at home. You have been a champion in sport, but also in life. For a period of your career you ran with the word "Unicef" on your helmet. Why this choice? Yes, I did the testimonial for Unicef. I helped them with the fundraising and we had a great event, the Dolomiti Super Bike. At that time, in 2009, I couldn't find a sponsor. I knew the Director of Unicef Italia very well and so I made this decision. You proved to be very supportive even on the death of David Poisson. After the tragedy you had heart-shaped stickers printed with the French flag and his initials to be affixed to the athletes' helmet in races in Canada. What relationship did you have with him? Yes, it was an idea of mine and of Matteo Marsaglia. I was tied to David because we almost joined the World Cup together, we knew each other since we started this adventure. I had a good relationship with the whole French team, especially with him. Has your tragedy affected your races? No, it didn't affect my races. We were all there when the accident happened, it was a bad situation. But on the races no, I was focused on myself. In these career years, who was the athlete you were inspired by? Aksel Lund Svindal. We are the same age, we have done more or less the same path. It has always been a myth and I have always felt good about it. I loved it so much as an athlete. What was your relationship with your teammates? I have agreed enough with everyone. Sometimes it is discussed, but then it is clarified. In the early years I was in agreement with Stefan Thanei. Then he left and took the skicross route. What are your plans for the future? I still don't know, now I enjoy the summer and then I will make a decision. I will certainly stay in the ski world, but at the moment I don't think I'll be a coach.

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