Defending champion Lisa Vittozzi was slowed down by serious injury problems in the fight for the overall World Cup. Now she talks about how she experienced her bitter winter.
While Franziska Preuss fulfilled a dream with winning the overall World Cup in biathlon, her predecessor Lisa Vittozzi had to digest a horror winter.
The Italian won the large crystal ball in 2024, but could hardly intervene and even dropped out of her season prematurely. Now she has unpacked over the difficult time, which she also cost the participation in the World Cup in Lenzerheide.
“There were four very hard months”
“It was four very hard months, both physically and mentally,” she said at a media appointment of the Italian ski association.
Last autumn, the 30-year-old worked in top shape, pulled through in training and was considered a great favorite. “But then there was an incident in November that completely braked me. I tried to hold out until December, but my back didn’t last, I had too severe,” she said now.
Again and again she sat down new target brands for her comeback, and again and again she had to reject it until the bitter certainty in January.
That is why Vittozzi broke off the season
“Having a mediocre season in which I could not exploit my potential 100 percent would have made no sense, because then I would not have had time to recover,” said the twelve-time World Cup medalist.
Vittozzi makes it clear how difficult it was this decision. “It was a bit destabilizing not to be able to take part in competitions. It was a shock and I had to take the time to process it,” said the biathlete: “I had a lot of pressure and worry.”
But now Vittozzi is doing better again and she has put her very big goal into focus again: In the coming winter, the Olympic Games are coming up in her Italian homeland.
“I see improvements every day, and that makes me more relaxed,” said Vittozzi.