All-rounder Alexandra Burghardt: 2022 "anything but rosy" despite European gold, Olympic silver and World Cup bronze

Created: 12/31/2022 8:34 am

By: Nico-Marius Schmitz

Alexandra Burghardt (2nd from right) is one of the world leaders in both bobsleigh and track and field.

© dpa/Hoppe/Leutner

Alexandra Burghardt is a sporty all-rounder.

The 28-year-old bobsleigh pusher and sprinter talks about her eventful year in the tz interview.

Munich – silver medal in bobsleigh at the Olympic Games, then sprinted to bronze at the World Championships and gold at the European Championships in the relay.

And in between she just got married.

"My personal gold medal," says Alexandra Burghardt.

In an interview, the 28-year-old talks about her year full of highlights – and why things weren't always as rosy as they looked from the outside.

Alexandra Burghardt in an interview: "The year took a lot out of my strength"

Alexandra Burghardt, after the European Championships in Munich you traveled through southern Europe with your husband and dog in a camper van.

How important was the vacation?

Alexandra Burghardt: It was really good.

It was restful for the soul.

Though not long enough.

I took a total of eight weeks off from training, longer than ever before.

But I could have tolerated another eight weeks (laughs).

I've enjoyed getting my social life back on track.

That has suffered a lot in the last 18 months.

After the European Championships in Munich, I was also physically at my limit and was in pain everywhere.

So I was happy to just be able to put my feet up.

Olympic silver, World Championship bronze and European Championship gold.

It's been a year full of highlights for you.

Burghardt: It always looks so rosy on paper.

But it was often anything but rosy.

The year has sapped my strength.

I had a virus or two, a muscle injury.

It was often more stressful than I would have liked.

I was always under pressure to get fit to compete again and qualify.

Time was often my biggest enemy.

That was very tiring for my head.

But in the end everything worked out.

I'm very happy and proud that my body and mind took part.

Summer fairy tale in Munich's Olympic Stadium: Burghardt on her EM gold in the relay

Do you often think of the golden evening in front of more than 40,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium?

Burghardt: That was the best thing I've ever experienced in sport.

It was a magical evening.

A summer fairy tale that ends with a kitschy screenplay (laughs) thanks to our gold relay race.

I saw so many familiar faces on the lap of honor.

The people didn't want to leave the stadium anymore.

Since then, the Olympic Stadium has been a different place for me.

The emotions I feel as soon as I enter the area again are intoxicating.

Sometimes it only occurs to me now. It took a really long time to realize all of this.

Two weeks ago I was training again in the Werner-von-Linde-Halle and thought to myself: Great, we became European champions here.

During the season I was in a mental whirlpool.

It was more stressful, not as easygoing and free.

Since it takes

After the World Championships in Eugene, German athletics was heavily criticized.

Was the European Championship particularly good?

Burghardt: We had a lot of discussions about it within the team.

Of course, you also have to take the circumstances into account and see the criticism in a context.

Yes, Munich was forgiving.

But problems that existed before are still there after Munich.

The German women's sprint has seldom had such a good year and for us, the funding for next year will not change at all.

In that context, it doesn't matter whether we won the medals or not.

That doesn't really correspond to a performance principle.

It is not yet clear whether all training camps next year can take place as planned.

It's a shame when you perform well and aren't rewarded for it.

But that's another topic.

You can definitely see that there is still a lot of work to be done.

Brakewoman Alexandra Burghardt (l) with pilot Mariama Jamanka at the start of the World Cup in Winterberg.

© Eibner/Memmler/imago-images

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Sporty all-rounder Burghardt on her year: "You could certainly fill a few pages with it"

You said that your experiences this year would also fit into a book.

So when can we look forward to your debut novel?

Burghardt: Maybe we can find a ghostwriter out there who will sum it all up (laughs).

One could certainly fill a few pages with it.

But I don't intend to write a book myself, so I'd rather stick with the sprint.

I decided relatively quickly to do the indoor season.

And I also want to go to the European Indoor Championships.

And the World Championships in Budapest next year is also a very attractive goal.

Interview: Nico Marius Schmitz