Paerson: "I've never seen the Tour so tight"

By Published On: December 9th, 2007Comments Off on Paerson: "I've never seen the Tour so tight"

For veteran champions, those athletes who have won perhaps more than their fair share, it is all about re-inventing motivation. With 35 World Cup wins, six World Cup titles, 10 World Championship medals, five Olympic medals and national athlete of the year awards from her home country, Sweden’s Anja Paerson fits the “more than fair share” category.
FOR VETERAN CHAMPIONS, those athletes who have won perhaps more than their fair share, it is all about re-inventing motivation. With 35 World Cup wins, six World Cup titles, 10 World Championship medals, five Olympic medals and national athlete of the year awards from her home country, Sweden’s Anja Paerson fits the “more than fair share” category.
    She says at an Olympics or a World Championship being motivated is easy. “That’s when I enjoy it the most. There is a nervous feeling in the stomach. To know when you are at the start line that it was important. You know when you are standing there if you lose it’s not going to happen again for two years.”
    Injury kept her out of action most of last season, but she returned just in time for the World Championships in her home country. She won three gold medals and one bronze. No wonder she enjoys it.
    But recently the World Cup is another story.
    “I have to find that nervous thing in the stomach again for the whole World Cup.”
    The races at Lake Louise almost did the trick.
    “I think at Lake Louise I felt that start to happen,” she said. “In the super G especially I was just shaking in the start and I really wanted to go and I really wanted to win the race. And I was also very, very disappointed when I came to the finish.”     So, although a result of seventh wasn’t what she had in mind, the very presence of belly butterflies told her she was getting back to where she wanted to be.
    In the Lake Louise finish area she said to herself, “OK, I’m back to where I want to be.”
    Then she went and trained slalom on her only rest day, because she recognizes Marlies Schild is going to be difficult to beat in the discipline. That’s a challenge, which translates in any language to motivation.
    So Anja, is Marlies Schild stoppable in slalom?
    “Oh, yeah.
    “I mean, everybody is stoppable. Everyone said she was all-unstoppable. … But I think the rest of us, our development; I think we weren’t focused enough. We were sloppy.”
    And, Paerson says, there is a confidence that comes with winning that fosters even more success, and there is the sloppy opposite side. “I think the other girls, everybody, can do so much better. She is taking advantage and is at her game.”
The result is visible in Schild’s skiing. “She is just so strong the way she is skiing at the moment. Every turn she is just leaning in and getting the speed out. Her skis just look like they are the most stable.”
    The best opportunity to slice into Schild’s confidence was probably at the very beginning of the season. Says Paerson, “I think she felt a little bit of pressure early, but then she won the first race and knew she could do it the whole year.”
    Which, of course, makes it all the more difficult for Paerson and other challengers to dent the confidence and more importantly, the win column.
    “In my heart I know. I believe I can win runs,” she said. “But I also know I have to fight for it. I have never seen the tour so tight like this year. The way everyone skied. … It was crazy. You can’t give anything away. You must focus more than anyone else.”

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About the Author: Pete Rugh