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www.skiworldcup.org/Soelden
(AUT) 25.10.2003
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Women's
Giant Slalom - Race Interview by Patrick
Lang
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| Report
I Race results
I SWC GS I Overall
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| Janica
Kostelic keeps smiling I Anja
Paerson looking for a fun season
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Anja
Paerson looking for a fun season.
Even before finishing 2nd in Soelden’s
Opening giant slalom, Anja Paerson was
quite pleased by her form and rather
confident. The 22-year-old Swede, already
a double gold medal winner and GS World
Cup Champion belongs to the small group
of favorites for the Overall World Cup
title. She explains her goals and her
program in this short interview.
Anja, how was your summer?
AP: “It was nice, I spent a
lot of time in Monaco where many friends
visited me. But I trained almost every
day. There is a great gym there and
the conditions are excellent. At the
beginning I didn’t feel too comfortable
down there but I must say I soon found
my marks. I spent much time with great
people as Pernilla Wiberg and her baby.
I like babies a lot and I enjoyed being
with her and her child”.
When did you start your snow training?
AP: “We started to ski again
in May and we returned on snow at the
beginning of August. We trained a lot
on the Swiss glaciers, as much as last
year, approx. 45 days. I dedicated a
lot of time to the speed events too.
It’s good for the technical specialties.
Some giant slalom races are pretty fast
and it helps when to practice much Super-G.
We trained more downhill and Super-G
than in the past and I feel in good
shape”.
What are you goals for 2004?
AP: “First of all, I’m
looking for a strong season start at
Soelden. In the past years, I was often
stressed and very nervous at the season-start.
I sometimes had a hard time to find
my best rhythm in the first races. This
time, I hope to do well in Soelden because
I won the gold medal in GS at St Moritz.
I’m the defending GS World Cup
champion too.
I want to be as relaxed as possible
afterwards. I won so much in the past
four years that I don’t feel much
pressure. If I’m relaxed and enjoying
the season, I should be able to win
a few races and then we will see. I
don’t set myself precise goals
beside trying as hard as possible to
give my best in each race”.
Also in the speed events?
AP: “Not yet. I plan to compete
in some downhills and Super-G’s
but I don’t know yet when and where.
I’ll skip Lake Louise but in January
and February I plan to compete in a
few speed races. I’m still in a
learning process in those specialties.
Until the 2006 Olympics, I prefer to
focus on the technical races”.
So you don’t fight for the Overall
World Cup title yet?
AP: “Not precisely. It will
be my main goal after Turin when I’ll
have more experience and a stronger
technique in the speed events. But you
never know – it also depends on
your results during the entire season.
It’s only in February that you
can start to really think about winning
the Overall or a specialty World Cup
title”.
What does the Overall title meant to
you and what do you need to do to win
it?
AP: “It’s a difficult
achievement, the greatest maybe. You
have to be extremely strong in your
head and very consistent too during
the whole season. You need to accumulate
a lot of top-3 finishes to have a chance
and that’s tough. I know that I
have the talent in me to win once the
big Cup but I’m not sure that I’m
mentally ready for it yet”.
What do you think about your past season?
AP: “It was definitely a fantastic
winter for me – I reached all my
goals in winning races in giant slalom
and in slalom, and then a gold medal
and a Crystal Cup. I have no regrets
even if I know that I could and should
have done better than 4th in slalom.
I was very fast too in slalom in St
Moritz but I did that big mistake in
the first run. But at the end of the
day, I’m very pleased. I was also
very proud to have won a race in front
of my fans in Are!”
Since your first World Cup race in March
1998 at the Finals in Crans-Montana
and your gold medals in the Junior Worlds,
you keep on improving and raising your
level. Are you not surprised by your
progress during all those years?
AP: “For sure, things went
very fast for me. I was confident about
my chances to win races and medals after
my great results as a junior but not
so many. I’m only 22 but this is
already my sixth World Cup season and
I have already won a lot of races, gold
medals and one World Cup title. I’m
really pleased by my pace so far”.
What did you learn about yourself last
winter?
AP: “ A lot because I changed
my attitude before last season. I became
more professional in a way. I am extremely
focused on my training and my racing
now. Previously I felt bad when I was
so much away from home and I missed
my boy-friend too, but last year, I
made the choice to totally dedicate
my time and my thoughts to my career.
It’s the only way to reach the
top and stay there. I accepted to made
hard sacrifices and it worked out fine.
I was much more relaxed at the end too.
This was essential”.
What makes you such a great champions?
AP: “First of all I’m
very competitive. I also understand
what it needs to go up there, what you
have to do to be a winner. I always
think about ways to improve and be better
in each of my actions, including the
way to pack my bags or my material.
Each detail counts at the end. I learned
soon to give my best and fight hard
to be the best. It goes back in the
years when I was a child and when I
competed with my cousins. I often was
the only girl in a group of boys in
Taernaby and I challenged them all the
time when we played together. I also
have an older sister and I tried hard
to beat her when we skied”.
Your father is also your head coach
– how much an advantage is this
for you?
AP: “It has not been easy a
the beginning to share him with the
rest of the team but it worked out well
after a while. I trust him and I know
I can relay on him. He knows me well
and it’s good to have him around
me during all these weeks of training,
racing and traveling”.
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