Just don’t think about the disappointing Winter Games a year ago, says Ramona Hofmeister. Germany’s top female snowboarder finally wants to fulfill her dream of winning gold at a major event.
Every now and then the sad memories catch up with Ramona Hofmeister. “You can never completely get Beijing out of your head“says Germany’s top female snowboarder about the Winter Olympics a year ago.”I was terribly disappointed in myself at the time.“
Instead of the hoped-for medal, there was a quarter-final in China’s parallel giant slalom. The successful Hofmeister had to nibble at it for a long time. “But now“, so she says, “again, avoiding thoughts of the Olympics works quite well.“It has to be, if the 26-year-old wants to compete for gold at the World Championships for snowboarders and ski freestylers in Georgia, which begin on Sunday.
Three chances for World Cup gold
“I’m going with great expectations“, says Hofmeister about the title fights in Bakuriani. “It would be nice to come back as a world champion. But everything has to fit together.“There are three chances: in the parallel slalom, in the parallel giant slalom and in the mixed team event. Hofmeister is the biggest hope in the strong German team. The raceboarder from WSV Bischofswiesen recently won the overall World Cup three times in a row. 2018 in Pyeongchang she was third at the Olympics, she also won bronze at the 2019 World Cup, and even silver in 2021. What she still lacks at a major event is gold.
She definitely has Hofmeister on the list, says ex-world champion Selina Jörg about the favorites in Georgia. “That has long since been worked up and checked off“, sports director Andreas Scheid asserts, with a view to the poor performance of the German snowboarders at the 2022 Olympics. “If there is anything good about such bitter defeats, it is that you learn from them. And that the necessary little bit of luck is fairly fairly distributed over the years.“
Hofmeister’s back is better
In terms of health, Hofmeister is apparently back in full health at the height of the season. Shortly before the start of the World Cup in mid-December, the back problems that had often plagued her in the past returned, she reports. “This came as a surprise to me because I haven’t had any problems for a year“, says the Upper Bavarian. “I had another surgery just before Christmas. Since then it’s fine again.She has had three podium finishes so far this winter. At the World Championship dress rehearsal in Blue Mountain, Canada, she even raced to her 15th World Cup victory at the end of January.
Hofmeister will be among the hunted when she throws herself down the slope from the start house in Georgia. She’ll be slapping her hands on her helmet, before packing a handful of snow under her leopard print scarf and listening to metal music as she warms up. The motto is to be awake. It’s been like this for years. Her plan has worked so many times. Now she finally wants to conjure up a gold ride at a major event.