Former coach Ansermoz has known ski queen Gut-Behrami for a long time
“At 16, Lara drove like a 30-year-old.”
Lara Gut-Behrami (32) receives two more crystal balls in Saalbach (Austria). For former coach Hugues Ansermoz it is clear that the Ticino woman will get her.
Published: March 19, 2024 at 12:15 a.m
1/5
It’s been a long time: Gut-Behrami (front, bottom) during glacier training in Saas-Fee VS with the Swiss World Cup team.
She has already won two crystal balls and two more are on the silver platter. Lara Gut-Behrami (32) could turn a very strong winter into a perfect winter in the next few days. In the Super-G on Friday and in the downhill on Saturday, 8th place was enough for her to win the discipline rankings.
“It would take a catastrophe for her not to make it. An incredible mistake – or she loses a ski. I do not believe that. Lara has everything in her hands and knows exactly what she has to do,” says Hugues Ansermoz.
Gut-Behrami has “everything in his blood”
The Valaisian was the women’s head coach when Gut-Behrami got a taste of the World Cup for the first time. He particularly remembers March 22, 2007 in Veysonnaz VS. At that time, the 16-year-old outclassed her competition in the Super-G at the Swiss Championships. “It was amazing. After the inspection, Lara knew every transition, every wave, every curve. This racing intelligence, this instinct – it was all in her blood.”
In the end, the teenager from Ticino was 1.25 seconds ahead of the then 22-year-old Fabienne Suter. «Lara had something that no one else had. At 16, she drove like a 30-year-old,” enthuses Ansermoz.
Even as a teenager she was very self-confident
It wasn’t easy for the established Swiss women in the team that such a young driver was often faster than them. «Lara didn’t measure herself against them. They weren’t a role model for Lara because she wanted to go even higher.”
Ansermoz remembers the training camp in New Zealand in the summer of 2007. «It wasn’t her father Pauli who spoke for her. No, Lara explained exactly how she felt about this and that. She had clear ideas about her path to the top. That impressed me a lot.”
And today? “I am convinced that Lara will win two more balls,” said Ansermoz.
