"My intervertebral disc was hanging by a thread": 26-year-old ski racer has to end her career
Created: 09/22/2022, 12:40 p.m
By: Marius Epp
Carole Bissig in a slalom race in the Montafon.
© IMAGO/Oliver Lerch
The Swiss ski racer Carole Bissig has to end her career at the age of 26.
She never fully recovered from a herniated disc.
Munich – Roger Federer also had to experience how it feels when the body no longer cooperates.
The tennis legend drew a line at the age of 41, which is old age for a top athlete in most sports anyway.
His Swiss compatriot Carole Bissig does the same: The slalom specialist doesn't hang up the racquet, but the skis.
However, she is only 26 years old.
After 23 World Cup and 101 European Cup races, Bissig ended her active skiing career.
The reason: Persistent disc problems.
"I haven't shed a tear yet.
And if this is still the case, there will be tears of joy," she said in an interview with Schweizer
Blick
.
Alpine skiing: Swiss woman Bissig has to end her career after a herniated disc
A herniated disc three years ago threw her back a long way.
"I was never able to constantly push myself to the limit again." Bissig opted for conservative treatment.
After six months, although she was painless, she had problems with her balance.
“My disc was hanging by a thread.
If I had continued, it might have fallen out completely - then I would have had to have an operation," explains the 26-year-old.
But that was out of the question for her.
Skier Bissig “did not want to jeopardize health”
"I didn't want to risk my health - I have no complaints about that in my new life." Her best World Cup result was a 17th place in the slalom in Kranjska Gora.
She no longer has anything to do with professional skiing.
Biting works at a hotel reception.
"I'm going to work this afternoon and I'm looking forward to it," she says.
In the future you will probably still see her on the ski slopes, because her brother Semyel (24) still competes in the World Cup.
Nina O'Brien is also active again: the American was seriously injured in a fall at the Olympics.
Seven months later she is back with scary pictures.
(epp)
