All of Jasná fell silent on January 20, 2024, when our professional downhill skier Petra Vlhová (30) fell during a race. Petra was carried by paramedics in a rescue sled and was immediately taken by helicopter to the hospital, where they discovered that she had injured ligaments in her knee. Everyone thought it would be the end of her career, but the opposite was true. Now, in an interview with Sport1 television, the skier revealed when she will end her career.
Together with her team, she decided on a consultative examination in Switzerland with the team of Dr. Olivier Siegrist from the Hospital du Valais, where she also underwent the operation itself. Physiotherapy was necessary even before the operation to make the operation as successful as possible, but exercise is very important especially after the operation. She spent two years recovering from the fall and again stood on the starting line of the Winter Olympics in Italy. She took 20th place in the slalom in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Vlhová was worried about her career. “Many times I thought it would be impossible, there were moments when I wasn’t sure about it at all. However, as an athlete, I believed that I could handle it. I decided to give it my all and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. At some moments I thought that my knee would not work. I was in a lot of pain, I couldn’t even do light things, let alone ski. Therefore, my very participation in the Olympics is already a victory” she said honestly.
Recovery after a serious injury is extremely difficult. “You are in rehabilitation with a physiotherapist, you have to regain your muscles, you spend the whole day in the gym. It is very difficult. Even an ordinary person sometimes has weak moments when he does not want to continue. Even then, you have to overcome yourself and work every day, and that’s the hardest part. When you feel like you can’t do it, but you just have to do it: put the bad times behind you and keep going, then the results will come“, she described what she had been experiencing for many months.
During her recovery from the injury, she struggled with her own psyche. “I’ve had some bad times or dark times, that’s when it’s important to be with your people, feel happy and keep going. I thought it would be nice to be back at the highest stage on stage, to feel those emotions again, and then I can end my career. The desire to be at the top is still in me. I’ve taken the first step, I’m back at the start, but I still have a lot of work to do,” she indicated when she might end her career.
She didn’t want to quit because of an injury. “I didn’t want to end my career like this, because of an injury. It’s not pleasant for an athlete. I want to return to the top, if possible. If it works out, it works out, if not, then not.” said Vlhová.
Two years without competitive skiing changed her. “Since the injury, after those two years, I am a different person. Maybe some people noticed. When I’m at the start, I’m extremely focused and no one sees me as a person. As soon as I cross the finish line, I give interviews, maybe they will see me that way. It is difficult to separate these two things: Petra Vlhová in the race and Petra as a person who is the same as everyone else. We are not machines. Everyone should see that although we are athletes, we are also people“, she revealed what she experiences during the race.
