The 31-year-old competitor admits that the relationship between women, both on and off the slopes, is often complicated. “There is mutual jealousy between women. I have often noticed during my career that women prefer to avoid me. And we’re talking about women’s solidarity?” she says in the interview.
In the world of skiing, however, there is not much room for true friendship. “It depends on the people, but to pretend that skiing is one big family seems quite hypocritical to me. Family is there for you even when you are not well. But it’s completely different in a ‘ski family’,” points out the native of Soreng.
“When you get hurt, your teammates and coaches come up to you and say they’re sorry. But don’t think that you are somehow interested in that skiing family. It is forgotten very quickly. You can be an Olympic champion or a world champion, but soon no one cares. That’s also why I would be very careful with the word ‘family’,” he mentions the merciless truth.
Photo: Lara Gutová-Behramíová’s Instagram
Swiss skier Lara Gutová-Behramíová.Photo: Lara Gutová-Behramíová’s Instagram
However, even according to her, there are exceptions. And even in an extremely competitive environment, real friendships can be established.
“We travel together all year round. This way you meet people with whom you don’t have much in common apart from skiing. But even in skiing I had real friends with whom I could talk about anything. For example with Anna Veith. I am very glad that I had Anna with me when she was still racing. And I’m glad we’re still friends,” she enjoys her warm relationship with the Austrian, who was beaten by Ester Ledecká in the fight for gold by a single hundredth in the memorable Olympic race in Pyeongchang in the super-G.
By the way, the Czech heroine pushed Gut out of the medal positions at that time.
In the interview, the Swiss also draws attention to how false, in her opinion, the shared joy of success between female colleagues is sometimes.
“We have mutual respect. And sometimes the joy of others’ successes is genuine. But it annoys me how hypocritical it is sometimes, especially on social networks,” he complains.
“For some people, it is important to congratulate you right away, but in reality they are polishing their image so that others think of them as good and kind people who think of others and admire them unconditionally. But if you are truly happy about the success of another, there is no need to make a public theater out of it,” he points out.
“Those who are truly happy about your success will, for example, kiss you in the ski corridor where no one can see it. It’s happened to me with people I wouldn’t have thought of. For example, some also told me how they got up in the middle of the night to watch my victory at the Beijing Olympics without immediately reporting it on Facebook or Instagram. That warmed me up a lot, it was authentic. And not just on the outside,” she explained.
