Stefan Eichberger: "You can't inflict more pain on someone"
The Austrian downhill skier is preparing for his comeback season in Chile. The time away from skiing was not easy for the Styrian.
Stefan Eichberger is one of the few younger hopefuls in the ÖSV speed team.
The 25-year-old Styrian started last season with sixth and seventh places in Beaver Creek in the World Cup season, before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee and a meniscus tear in Gröden.
"The winter was extremely long and tough," Eichberger now explains in an interview with "Krone".
Eichberger's Pain? "A Catastrophe"
The pain was almost unbearable at first, according to the downhill skier: "For the first month and a half, I was in severe pain, it was a catastrophe."
To top it all off, there was also the emotional suffering of having to watch his colleagues on TV: "I had to watch my teammates – in Wengen, in Kitzbühel, at the Olympics. You can't inflict more pain on an athlete."
Full Trust in His Knee
Meanwhile, Eichberger has overcome the ordeal. He was able to gain important slope kilometers during his first training camp in Chile.
"I used the training weeks, there were good things, it immediately felt good," the Styrian says, having full trust in his knee again. "I almost want to overdo it on snow. That's a good sign."
Is a Podium Finish Possible?
Together with Vincent Kriechmayr and Daniel Hemetsberger, Eichberger was recently recalled to South America. The trio is now fine-tuning their preparations for the first speed races of the season in the USA at the end of November.
"But I'm slowly approaching 100 percent," Eichberger is confident. What is possible in the comeback season is currently difficult to predict.
"Last season, before my injury, I was very close to the podium. But you can't rest on past achievements, especially not after a serious injury," says the 25-year-old, for whom things went smoothly in his private life this summer.
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