The German Disabled Sports Association (DBS) has received the farewell to the competitive sport of its show athlete Anna Schaffelhuber with regret. "It will of course be a pity if a world-class athlete declares her athletic resignation and Anna will miss us," said DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher about one of Germany's most successful female parasites: "We are grateful for a great career."
Monoskivahrerin Schaffelhuber, who is paraplegic since her birth, had announced on Sunday evening the end of her successful career. It was "not a decision against the sport, but one, for my future, maybe for a more private future with somewhat different tasks," said Schaffelhuber, who is currently in the legal clerkship at a secondary school.
The perfectionist leaves
Anna Schaffelhuber has ended her career after seven Paralympic gold medals, eleven world championship titles, six overall World Cup victories and 67 individual World Cup victories.
Schaffelhuber is paraplegic since birth. At the age of five, she began monoskiing and at the age of 17 she drove to her first Paralympics in 2010.
In Vancouver, the teenager surprisingly won bronze in Super-G.
Four years later, she won at the games in Sochi in all five alpine disciplines - as the second athlete ever.
Five times gold in Sochi - with this achievement Schaffelhuber went into German sports history.
"I got along extremely well back then, track and snow were tailor-made for me," she said in retrospect.
For skiing Schaffelhuber swapped wheelchair for monoski. She sat in a carbon shell, steers by shifting her weight, two crutch skis help to keep her balance. The Monoski with its complex shock absorber system was a custom made.
Responsible for this was Martin Braxenthaler, who has always improved his recreational sports equipment as an active. "At that time, the seats were made of fiberglass, so much heavier, not so stable and not functionally shaped," said the ten-time Olympic champion in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang: "Today's modern monoski have nothing to do."
"If he fits, then he sits like a very tight shoe," Schaffelhuber said about her monoski.
And so if the monoski was sitting perfectly, Schaffelhuber was looking for the most aerodynamically favorable position for her races in the wind tunnel of the German Aerospace Center in Göttingen.
Schaffelhuber's penchant for perfection also paid off in Pyeongchang when she won gold in Downhill and Super-G and Silver in Super.
At the Paralympic Games, the 26-year-old had celebrated seven successes - her peak celebrated in Sochi in 2014 with five wins and became the face of German disability sports. She is "aware that a resignation at age 26 appears early, yet it feels complete with seven Paralympic gold medals, eleven championship titles, six overall World Cup victories and 67 individual World Cup victories".
Schaffelhuber still wants to stay in the sport. "Who knows if I will not show up soon as a coach or be seen as an expert on one occasion or another," she said. Good news for Beucher: "I am pleased to announce their willingness to contribute their top-level experience in the German Disabled Sports Association and especially in the promotion of young talent."
