The Nordic World Ski Championships will take place in Trondheim from February 26th to March 9th. For the Nordic combined athletes, the title fights in Norway are the highlight of the season. Experienced Johannes Rdyzek goes into the competitions with fun, joy and aggressiveness.
For Johannes Rydzek it is the eighth World Championships. The Allgäu native was at the top of the podium six times. He and his colleagues are putting on a strong performance this season: the DSV athletes already have four wins and a total of twelve podium places to their name. In the entire preseason there were only three third places in the individual.
Rydzek: “Jarl starts to ponder”
Rydzek celebrated his first World Cup victory in almost six years in Ruka – it was a German triple success: Julian Schmid and Vinzenz Geiger were also on the podium at the time. The German combined athletes have shown impressively so far this season that they can beat the dominator of recent years, Jarl Magnus Riiber. “Jarl notices that we are much closer, he can no longer solve everything so confidently and starts to ponder.”explains Rydzek in the Sportschau podcast.
Rydzek: “We are closer again”
And that is fueling German hopes of a successful World Cup in Trondheim. The last World Cup title was a few years ago: in 2019, current national coach Eric Frenzel won gold in Seefeld. Rydzek trusts the DSV team “a lot to everything too“. Geiger and Schmid in particular worked meticulously on themselves in the summer after a messed up last season, said the Oberstdorfer. “Now we’re closer again, now it’s all about the podium and victory again.”
The other German combined athletes such as Manuel Faißt, Wendelin Thannheimer and David Mach are also in the starting blocks: “They have shown similar training performances. We are currently building up the momentum that is needed. Because when a team picks up the momentum, anything is possible. We take the energy with us“says Rydzek.
Rydzek: “Use the energy of the fans”
The World Championships will take place in Riiber’s home country. Norway is a country crazy about skiing. Tens of thousands of fans will cheer on their athletes. A disadvantage for other nations? “No”says Rydzek. “You don’t get booed. You can harness the energy of the spectators yourself. I’m happy that so many people are there. This is my race and not just that of the Norwegians.”states the Allgäu resident and looks back on the 2021 home World Cup in Oberstdorf. Because of the Corona pandemic, no spectators were allowed at the competitions at the time. “It was really strange, there was a lack of energy from the audience.”
Rydzek on World Cup chances: “I have to trust in my strengths”
And how does the Allgäu native see his own chances at the World Cup? “I’m putting myself into an aggressive mode. At the Olympics and World Championships, only places one to three count. The other places are no longer that important – as hard as that sounds“.
Rydzek wants “Put something in. It’s not easy because you don’t want to make mistakes. But if you get into the mode of ‘hey, I dare to risk something now’ and then bring it to the jump and the track, then you can “I managed to create something big in Fallun, in Oslo and especially in Lahti.” Rydzek became world champion four times in Lahti.
“You have to trust in your strengths and go into the competition with fun, joy and an aggressive attitude”is Rydzek’s formula for success and he adds; “Everyone gets excited before big events. That can quickly inhibit you. You have to get into the mode where you turn the tension into something positive.”