A Swiss athlete, Nadine Fähndrich, wins the traditional race in the Engadine for the first time since 2009. The 22-year-old is by no means unknown. She successfully took part in the Olympic Games this year and also won medals at the U23 World Championships.

You can look back on a very successful season. In your eyes, what are the keys to success?

Above all, being passionate about and enjoying the sport is extremely important to me, as is appreciating what a privilege it is to compete as a top athlete.

Other success factors include the willingness to work hard and the right environment. Lastly, for me personally, it is very important that I am and remain self-critical.

The more successful you are, the greater the pressure and expectations. How do you deal with this? What tips do you have in store for amateur athletes, who also have to struggle with nervousness before their race?

This is something I find very difficult. But I have learned to deal with it. I think that expectations and pressure are actually not a bad thing. They wouldn’t be there, if you didn't belong there. 

A helpful tip is to try not to focus on the result, the expectations or the pressure. In fact, in those moments when such thoughts arise, it’s much more a question of reminding yourself about what you have done and, more importantly, what you can do to achieve these expectations.

You are at home in one of the sports dominated by female Scandinavians. Where do you spot the greatest differences? In what areas can you still close gaps?

That is a difficult question. I think the Scandinavians have the advantage that much more of them practice this sport. There are still many areas in which I can do better, or that I still need to train in or learn. This certainly includes my endurance capacity and ability to perform better in distance races. Then I can improve myself in the field of tactics. And when it comes to my skating technique, I still need to learn how to skate more economically. These are just three areas in which I still need to catch up with the best. But there are undoubtedly still some more.

The 2017/18 season is over. Can you give us an insight into what your preparation for the next season looks like?

I first plan to recover from the long season. At the beginning of May, we will then attend the first training camp in snow. I will certainly be doing a lot of training on roller skis and on foot. But there will also be snow training. I would like to increase the amount of training hours a bit compared to last year.

Do you have a secret tip you would be willing to share with us? 

This tip is not so secret, which makes it all the more important: I think you should listen to your body and learn to develop this body feeling.

Foto: ZVG