So far, German snowboarders have experienced a season to forget. Nevertheless, there is great hope that things will finally break at the World Cup in Bad Gastein (Tuesday from 6:45 p.m. in the live stream on sportschau.de).
It just doesn’t work. The German snowboarders are far behind the competition this winter. Even figurehead Ramona Hofmeister isn’t really getting going. The overall World Cup winner from last season is still waiting for her first podium finish. At the weekend it was only enough for an eighth place in the race in Scuol, Switzerland. She celebrated her best result at the start in Mylin, China at the beginning of December with a fifth place.
Back problems slow Hofmeister down
Snowboard Germany is spoiled by Hofmeister’s achievements. The Bischofswiesen woman is a guarantee for top results. The low performance is all the more astonishing, but it can also be explained. “I started the season with a lack of training, first it was my back, then my ankle.”she says in the Sportschau interview. “I wasn’t ready for the season yet.”
After initial difficulties, the 28-year-old picked herself up and showed her strength with her performances in the qualifications. And yet it just doesn’t work in the race. Hofmeister is still waiting for her first semi-final appearance this winter. This season is so important to build up self-confidence for the Winter Olympics next year.
Hofmeister with Confidence
“I have no explanation for why it doesn’t work out in the race, I don’t know”she says, but believes in her own strength: “It’s only a matter of time before the knot breaks.”
She has time – because the highlight of the season is still waiting anyway. The Snowboard World Championships will take place in Engadin in March. The first World Cup title should finally work there. It’s still missing from the collection.
It’s not just Hofmeister who is weakening
Just like Hofmeister, the entire German team is currently weakening. Cheyenne Loch and Melanie Hochreiter do not manage to establish themselves in the upper range. The men around Elias Huber and Stefan Baumeister have also fallen short of expectations so far.
So hopes continue to rest on Hofmeister. And that’s encouraging: “Every competitive athlete has a dip in their performance. I’ve never had one like this before, and I don’t know that about myself either. But I know that I’m drawing the right conclusions to get out of it again.