The first competition in the World Cup will take place on October 26 and 27 in Sölden, Austria, where alpine skiers are already preparing for the giant slalom in training, while the slalom season will start on November 16 and 17 in Levi, Finland. The injury does not cause much concern for Jennifer, and this year’s world junior champion expects that everything will be fine with her health by the first start.
Đermane has a good feeling about the results achieved last season, entering the TOP10 three times in the World Cup competitions. The 21-year-old athlete previously believed that she could do it, even though she sometimes had small doubts due to previous injuries. Now Jennifer knows that TOP10 is in her power, but she is not going to surprise with promises. Every year, the composition of the World Cup circuit changes – some return after injuries, and new applicants also come. The competition is great, but
Jennifer does not put pressure on herself to at least repeat what she has achieved in every competition. “I’ll go and see if I can do it in the TOP30 again. First of all, now the little knee injury is ahead, that’s the first step to deal with. Training is going pretty well, there have been no steps backwards in technique, maybe even some forwards ,” Gērmane said in the Latvian Television’s “Sports Studias” podcast. “I will try to do better and try to achieve something better than last season, but nothing is guaranteed.”
Jennifer feels that her skiing technique is constantly improving and allows for the improvement of various nuances. Last season, the athlete was more cautious on the track, because after a good first race with a stable performance, she was able to maintain the position she had gained in the second race.
In the new season, German will try to take more risks and trust that there is nothing to lose and only to gain. “Maybe it won’t happen the first time, maybe it won’t happen the second time, maybe it won’t even happen the third time, maybe it won’t happen even the whole season until the very end, but that one moment maybe it will happen,” Đermane revealed the plans for more aggressive tactics. “I need a little more risk than last year. I have a feeling inside that I want more, I want to try it myself.”
If there are failures and big mistakes in the first stages, the alpine skier will discuss with her team and evaluate whether the right tactics have been chosen.
During the summer, Jennifer had full training, both physically and on skis, and she feels that the season has already begun. At the same time, she spent a total of two months at home during the offseason, which is a long period of time. After the previous season, Germaine had a full two-week break to disconnect from sports, but psychologically she feels quite stable to be able to disconnect from alpine skiing in the winter and not think about it constantly.
During the off-season, Germain trained in New Zealand from the beginning of August to the first week of September, where the winter is not as strong as in Europe, and the weather at the end of the camp turned out to be difficult. Although it is a long way to New Zealand and the costs there are higher than when training in Europe, Jennifer and her coach still decided that it would be useful to spend a longer preparation time on the snow.
Germaine likes the icy tracks prepared in the World Cup competitions, because it keeps the hard surface in better condition even for riders with a later starting number and provides conditions for more equal competition. If earlier you had to learn how to drive in different snow conditions, now the tracks are dominated by ice surfaces and there is no such variety anymore.
On a daily basis, Jennifer takes care not to get injured in recreational activities and not to jeopardize the alpine skiing season. On the other hand, she does not need special external things to tune herself up for the competition. Some hair colors have been ordered before the season, but the athlete will rather use them at the world championships, which will be held in Saalbach, Austria, in February.
Since the age of eight, Đermane has spent practically all winters in Austria, where she has completely settled in. She even thinks in English more often, because she spends most of the year in an international environment. Jennifer is currently fully focused on downhill skiing and does not feel the need for any other activity to take her mind off or encourage her to develop other talents. If things don’t go the way you want in mountain skiing, there will still be time to look at option B and other possibilities in life, Gërmane added.
Resources used:
LSM.lv – Reliable news
The information was prepared
Raymond Gekish
