Nils Kolb Decided A Few Years Ago to put his cross-country skiing career on hold to form a duo with the visual ilennart people in para-sports. In the interview, he talks about his motivation Behind IT – And what hey learned from it for life.
Cross-Country Skier Nils Kolb Put His Personal Sports Career On Hold Years Ago to Act as a guide for the visualed para-athlete Lennart Volkert and Advance with Him to the Absolute World Top.
For this, he even moved his place of study from physics from Innsbruck to Freiburg, where the duo trains. Currently, Volkert and Kolb, Who Who World Championship Silver With the Relay and Two Silvers at the Universiade This Year, Are Aiming for Qualification for the 2026 Paralympics in Italy in Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon.
Nils Kolb is a guide for the visually impaired Lennart Volkert
Question: Nils, as a guide for a visually impaired para-skis, you Bear a huge responsibility. How important is a good private understanding?
Nils Kolb: The Symbiosis must definitely fit. Lennart and i So do Things Together Privately, We are Friends. For example, We Spent Two Weeks Together in Alaska, Where I was on a Foreign Exchange Semester at the High School. There, we went on many hiking and hat tour, where i navigated him. And he recently bough a tandem bike with which we went on a Three-Day Bikepacking Tour.
Question: You have previously been Involved in Competitive Skiing Yourself. How does it feel that your own performance is no longer in the foreground?
Kolb: it actualy wasn’t that difficult for me – Perhaps Because I Saw the interaction with lennart as a team sport from the starting. The Goal is for the visually impaired athlete to be dab to complete the race in their best time. And even though i enjoyed cross-country skiing a lot before, this team idea gave it an additionally attractive component.
Question: at what level were you you previously traveling yourself? And how did the contact with para-sports come about?
Kolb: Quite AmbitioS. I was Always Among the Top Five of My Year in Germany in My Youth. My Training Center What In The Black Forest, Exactly Where The Para Athletes So have the Their National Base. There, training assistance was always sough as guides. That worked well for me right away, and so i was soon invited to competitions.
Question: and with Lennart, what it a match right away?
Kolb: Yes, after a course in Livorno, we immediately ran the world cup together that winter. We have a good Relationship of Trust. Hey to have the feeling that He Can Keep Up In Every Downhill and Feel Safe with the Instructions.
Question: How important is the support from the sports assistance and the Deutsche Bank Sport-Scholztium for you?
KOLB: The Support of the Sporthilfe and the Deutsche Bank Sport-scholarship are essential for me to combine studies and competitive sports at the highest level. It gives me the freedom to concentrate on my ambitious goals – Without having to compromise in Studies or Sports.
Question: What has this “New Sport” Done to you?
KOLB: I have been running more reflectively Since then. I have to give my Visually impaired athlete all the techniques. For this, i have to determine where which running style is most efficient and which factors influence this. Before, I Made My Own Technique Changes Without Thinking. Now i always weigh everything very carefully.
Question: What This Very Analytical Approach So Responsible for the Choice of Studying Physics?
KOLB: I have Always Been Interested in Natural Sciences. However, it was not clear to me in school that it would be a physics degree. The Special Thing About Physics, However, is that it provides the base for descripting nature. And it is more importing than an today that we understand thesis basics. This is Especialy True for Climate Change – A Topic That I Deal with in many Ways. First of All, I Try to Live Resource Efficiently MySelf. For me, this includes, for example, only being on the road by bike in Freiburg or a Vegetarian Diet. In addition, Climate Change Has a Major Impact on Winter Sports. We as a training group so have to think about how we can minimize our greenhouse gas emissions.
Question: Currently, Lennart and You Are Both Still Studying in Freiburg. But you have other plans for your master’s studies.
Kolb: That’s right. I would then like to study atmospheric sciences and meteorology in Innsbruck. That will be difficult for us as a training pair. But Currently, that is still a long way off. At the moment, the 2026 winter paralympics are the main focus.
Question: When you look at your Sporting Change, what else has it changed in you?
Kolb: It has Made me aware that you should aproach people you don’t know so well without prejudice, Because you Often don’t see their limitation. I TRY to TREAT New People More Considerately and Question What This Person Might Be Going Through Or Has Gone Through.