Simon Jocher not only has the Olympics in mind

Simon Jocher is already busy on the snow to get fit for the coming winter.

The Schongauer has the Olympic Games in Beijing in view, but he is mainly concentrating on other things.

Schongau - Simon Jocher's preparations for the season are picking up speed. The Schongau resident recently completed his first speed days in the service of SC Garmisch on the glacier in Saas-Fee in the Swiss Alps not far from the Italian border. In the coming weeks he and his teammates will spend a lot of time on the glaciers in Switzerland, South Tyrol and Austria before going to Copper Mountain in the United States in November to start the World Cup racing season there.

For the 25-year-old Schongauer, the first few days on the long slats still felt a bit like ratcheting, according to Schongauer's own words. “But after three Super-G days and three days of downhill skiing, the skiing feeling was there again,” reported Jocher, who also feels well prepared in terms of fitness. To achieve this, he worked hard all summer long. In Maria Alm (Salzburg) there was a fitness course together with all World Cup riders. “I also trained a lot in the Allgäu with Andreas Sander and Manuel Schmid,” reports the sports soldier. In addition, there are countless hours according to the training plan at home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Jocher lives.

There wasn't much vacation time left, the summer break, which turned out to be more of a spring break, was short.

“In April we would have had time to take a longer vacation, but we couldn't because of Corona.

So it was only a few days Lake Garda in August ”, says Jocher, who takes this fact calmly.

Corona has not only influenced vacation planning, it will also remain an issue.

“Sometimes I ask myself questions personally,” says the Schongauer.

What happens to the fourth wave now?

When would a vaccination booster be necessary?

“Possibly exactly in winter during the racing season,” Jocher points out.

“But then I'll hide it again, because I can't influence it anyway.

And let's be honest, we're fine anyway. "

This time no training camp in Chile

In general, the situation is much more relaxed than last summer. You know how to act. Since everyone in the team is actually vaccinated, things are much easier. Even the planned training camp in Chile would have worked. It did not fail because of Corona, as feared, but because of the lack of snow in the southern hemisphere. Due to the failure of the training camp, the team was spared a lot of travel expenses. In a season in which the Olympic Games are in Beijing and thus far away from home for a long time, that might not be a disadvantage either.

Olympia, the theme of winter 2022, also concerns Jocher. "Logically I would like to qualify for it, especially after I was allowed to start at the World Cup in Cortina last season," the Schongauer frankly admits. His assessment: “It is possible, but it will certainly be very difficult.” His primary goal is the speed disciplines, but the combination in which he came fifth in Cortina is of course an issue. "However, nobody knows how it will go." No combination is planned in the World Cup for the time being, "therefore it is still completely open what the qualification criteria could be," said Jocher. So it means: wait and see and simply sell well in every race.

The sports soldier does not want to fall into old behavior patterns and look too much at results and points. “What did I worry about FIS points in the past, and that always backfired.” He is now more action-oriented. “I focus on my technique and my skiing and try to improve there. Then the rest will come by itself. ”The rest would be to gain a foothold in the World Cup, collect points and thus recommend yourself for the Olympics. If you look back on the past winter, which Jocher approached with the same action-oriented approach and ultimately finished with 40 World Cup points and two great World Cup results, then this seems to be the right tactic for the Schongauer.

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