Anna Seidel had to look ahead somehow. She knew that despite her bad luck with injuries and difficult recovery, there was still a small chance of her third participation in the Olympics at the age of just 23, a start in Beijing in February 2022. But the doubts of Germany’s best short tracker in spring, summer and late summer were great.
And also the frustration at times when she surfed on her social media channels. “I left the social media stuff aside a lot and made a lot of people who had something to do with my sport invisible,” she says. “I just couldn’t look at those stories where other people were saying how great they were training. That got me down. “
While Anna Seidel is telling this, she is at the second World Cup station of the season in Japan. And she is in good spirits, full of hope after her difficult way back. And for good reason: a week ago, the Dresden woman was not only able to test the Olympic ice cream in Beijing at the World Cup opener, but also rewarded herself there for her perseverance with an amazing comeback. And that, although after a tibia and fibula fracture in March, she has only been able to train properly again since the end of September. “A lot is a matter of the head,” she said over the past six months. The woman from Dresden now knows her way around fighting back. And that despite her youth.
Olympic debut at the age of 15
Seidel caused a sensation at the age of 15 with her World Cup premiere and then as one of the youngest athletes at the Winter Games in Sochi. At first glance, her vita reads like a steep climb in a sport in which Germans are not exactly guaranteed to be successful: she won her first European Championship bronze medal in 2016, and in 2018 and 2020 she moved up with third places.
The big stage: Anna Seidel at her first Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014
Source: pa / Sven Simon / Anke Waelischmiller / SVEN SIMON
Then in 2021: Silver over 1500 meters and in the all-around competition. What these successes hide: In 2016 she broke a vertebra in a crash during summer training on the ice and had to take a long break. In 2020 she tore a bony ligament in her left ankle. At the home world cup in Dresden.
She put all that away when, after winning the European Championship silver medals in March 2021, she was preparing to achieve great things at the World Cup in Dordrecht (Netherlands). “I knew that I had the potential for a World Cup medal, that was my big goal,” she says. Then a training accident changed all of her plans. “I picked up at high speed, that’s what they say when you hook the tip of the blade into the ice,” explains Seidel. And high speed in this case means around 40 km / h. “It pried my foot away, twisted it right. A mistake in attention, maybe just bad luck. “
This time it was extremely difficult
At first she still had hope. That it wasn’t that bad. That she might even be able to realize her World Cup dreams. But when the painkillers no longer helped and the adrenaline disappeared, there was something wrong with them. “When I saw the x-rays, it hurt even more,” she says. This was followed by an operation, lengthy rehabilitation and a break from training.
“Sure, I also thought, ‘Why again? Why now?’ Anything else would be a lie ”, Seidel admits. “But then you have to manage to switch relatively quickly, not to dwell on these thoughts for too long. Because it’s useless. ”Sounds so easy, but it wasn’t.
Seidel is Germany’s hope for the short track
Quelle: Niklas Niessner/Red Bull Content Pool
Every now and then she was close to saying: “Guys, I think it won’t work anymore.” But Seidel never gave up hope, even when she says: “I have to admit that it was extremely difficult for me this time . I have definitely learned, in general and about myself personally, that a lot goes on in the head. And that you have to be strong – then a lot is possible. When it comes to pain, too, a lot is a matter of the head. ”Conversations with family and friends, but above all working with two sports psychologists, helped her.
Hope to reunion in Beijing
When she actually made it to Beijing for the start of the World Cup, the relief was great, but the doubts still haunted her head. “What if I fall away? What if I can’t keep up like that? ”Says Seidel.
None of this happened. Instead, with ninth place over 1500 meters, she did not succeed in the direct (eighth place), but already half of the Olympic qualification. And: “The gap to the competition was not as big as feared,” says Seidel happily.
Seidel has Beijing firmly in view
Quelle: Niklas Niessner/Red Bull Content Pool
In Nagoya (Japan) this weekend it was not enough for the final qualification, but there are still plenty of chances to book the Beijing ticket and make a perfect reunion: “My friend and I will see each other next time at Olympia. Then there is the great reunion, ”she says. Ice hockey pro Moritz Seider plays for the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL. “But we can do it well,” says Anna Seidel. “Of course it would also be nicer to see him often, but that way everyone can concentrate fully on his or her work. That works well. “
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