Beat Feuz: «Full speed? This is over for me!»
The four-time Swiss downhill winner, Olympic champion and world champion Beat Feuz is celebrating his debut as a TV expert on Swiss television SRF in Zermatt and Cervinia. Shortly before, he spoke to us about his upcoming debut.
We are standing in the Laghi Cime Bianche finish area of the Gran Becca. You've just come off the course. Did it tickle you to ski down here as an ex-athlete or is it OK the way it is now?
Yes, it's really OK the way it is now. It was nice to slide down the course and also to see the athletes, but to really ski down at full speed again, that time is over for me.
What was your impression of the course when you skied down it? What kind of track is it?
The course actually looked very good today. Above all, the weather is very nice, no wind, certainly still a little soft in the upper third, towards the bottom it gets a little bit more compact. But I don't think the course will be too fast because it's cold. It's blunt snow, so it will certainly be a bit of a challenge for the athletes to keep it going forward.
It's a double premiere. On the one hand, it's a new race on the World Cup calendar, and on the other, it's your debut as a TV expert on SRF. So shortly before your debut, how are you feeling?
Yes, certainly a little tense, especially for the races, but now in the training sessions I also wanted to see what we can do, where the athletes are going and how. We think it's an exciting challenge, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
How did you prepare for your debut in the new role?
Yes, I haven't prepared too much at all. I certainly practised a little, we sat down with the SRF and ran through the whole thing a bit. But now it's a new course, new names, new athletes who might come into focus because it's a new course, so we'll see.