On the sidelines of the 74th Four Hills Tournament, Sven Hannawald casually made a surprising revelation. The occasion was a question from ARD commentator Tom Bartels.
24 years have passed since Sven Hannawald’s historic triumph at the Four Hills Tournament. On the sidelines of the opening jump of the 74th edition of the traditional winter sports event, the TV expert now caused a stir with a surprising revelation.
ARD commentator Tom Bartels casually asked the former world-class ski jumper during a quiet moment of the second round whether he had a mental coach during his active career.
Sven Hannawald works as an expert for ARD
“I had hired one, but nobody knew. Not my coaches, not even my parents,” Hannawald then revealed. “If you had known, you would have made a story out of it,” he continued, addressing Bartels and the media in general. He probably wouldn’t have been able to contain the story then, Hannawald added.
Hannawald: “The last piece of the puzzle for me”
According to him, the support helped him. “Ultimately, the coaches do most of the work. But the mental aspect, which you then create from your own experience, was the last piece of the puzzle for me,” explained the 51-year-old.
The reason for Bartels’ question was Sandro Hauswirth’s jump. Hauswirth has been a permanent member of the Swiss World Cup team since this season. “He has now arrived, not least because of a mental coach,” Bartels explained about the 25-year-old, who finished 25th in Oberstdorf. The Slovenian Domen Prevc secured the victory, while Felix Hoffmann took third place as the best German.
In addition to his legendary Tour victory, Hannawald’s career also included a team Olympic gold medal in 2002, two Ski Flying World Championships, and two gold medals at the Nordic Ski World Championships. He ended his career prematurely in 2005 at the age of 30 after being diagnosed with burnout.