Annamarija Lampic in interview

FIS Cross-Country News sat down with last year’s best U23 skier, Annamarija Lampic of Slovenia to talk about last winter and plans for the upcoming Olympic season.

L****ast year was a true breakthrough season for you. You won the U23 World Cup standing, recorded the 1st World Cup win, finished 9th in the sprint ranking. Was it the best season so far?

For sure It was my best season ever, I'm very happy that I survived the season without any trouble or injury. During last 3 years I had a lot of problems with my heart. I had to undergo several surgeries due to heart arrhythmia. Once I had to stay at hospital for a month. But now, I seem to be healthy and I hope everything will be OK.

What do you think was the reason of your big performance improvement in the last season?

Most importantly I stayed healthy and could carry out the training as planned all year round. Secondly, our coach Stefano Saracoo has been great and has helped me a lot on my way to success.

Where do you see you have reserves and need to work more?

I am still young and I think I have reserves in almost everything. I am very motivated and eager to work hard to become a better skier.

There seems to be a very good energy with your team. How is the team spirit?

Yes, that’s right. The atmosphere in our team is really good. We are a great team. Stefano fits in very well and it is also thanks to him, that we get on so well together.