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Sebastian Holzmann is a technology specialist. In the World Cup, the 29-year-old Bavarian specializes in slalom and giant slalom. In 2014 he drove his first World Cup slalom. His best result so far was an eleventh place in Kranjska Gora.
sports show: Sebastian Holzmann, you are a slalom specialist and also took part in the slalom at the 2021 World Championships. How do you approach racing, do you have any rituals?
Sebastian Holzman: For me it was the first major event, my first World Cup. I went about it very easily with a very good preparation, was fit and fast in training. I approached the World Championships with the thought “hop or go”, I really took risks in parallel and slalom. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough at both events, I was eliminated both times. In the slalom I got caught, in the parallel it broke me – but thank God nothing happened. Up to that point I was traveling pretty fast.
sports show: Would you like to erase this race from your memory?
Holzmann: No, absolutely not. I only take the positive things with me. I managed to get my best performance of the season and saw in the first two split times that I can really have a say. That gives self-confidence. I then just took a little more risk than usual and then just threaded what happens quickly in slalom. Of course, it’s bitter that it happened in this race, but in the end a race at a World Championship is just a race like any other. So I can complete it relatively easily for myself.
sports show: Have you ever thought: “Why am I actually doing slalom and not speed disciplines”?
Holzmann: Well, thank God I do slalom and not speed disciplines – when threading, a lot more and worse usually happens. But of course, you always question why it happens. Of course I looked at everything, but in the end it’s just a sign that you were willing to take more risks, choose a narrower line and attack more. Of course, that will get you further in the end. Because if you manage to do it without falling, you’re just faster – done.
sports show: You are currently in your comeback season, you injured yourself badly in training, among other things your kneecap jumped out. How did this happen?
Holzmann: My left kneecap jumped out to the left and, thank God, jumped back pretty quickly because such a dislocation is extremely painful. The whole thing happened during afternoon training on the Stelvio Pass, on an artificial turf pitch at 3,000 meters. We warmed up a bit with a ball and I wanted to get a ball and yes, wrong ambition at the wrong time.
sports show: Could you just get back on your skis afterwards?
Holzmann: Luckily it didn’t happen while skiing, so I never lost my confidence in skiing. When you’ve been away for so long, the anticipation of being able to ski again is just huge. You just get on it and drive. But for a very long time that had nothing to do with racing skiing, you’re just happy that you can just slide down a mountain again.
sports show: But do you then have a destination or do you just go up and it can happen that you go down again with the gondola?
Holzmann: With me and my injury, which lasted about eight months, you take the gondola up and definitely ski down again. Before that I had already tried cross-country skis on the flat and also with touring skis and I also went down very simple children’s ski slopes there. That’s fine again because a few tests were done in the weight room beforehand.
sports show: I’m just imagining you in the children’s ski area on the “flying carpet” with all the other children – they must have been happy…
Holzmann: Yes, that’s exactly how it was. I just stayed with us in the children’s ski area, ran up simple slopes where the kids then train, watched the U10 and U12 train, said “Servus” and slid down one run.
sports show: Children have a completely different kind of fun skiing, don’t fall too far, race through the area and just do it.
Holzmann: It’s always admirable that the carefreeness of spending time with friends and skiing with them is definitely in the foreground. That is absolutely right and important. Nevertheless, you can see that one or the other has more ambition or a faster will to learn. You can always see the joy of skiing – although that was never a problem for me because that was always what I like to do the most: skiing.