Athlete of the Week: Eric Frenzel (GER)

When to pick Eric Frenzel as the Athlete of the Week? This winter, the right timing seemed essential. With the German team dominating the World Cup tour as they please, fantastic Frenzel-weekends were not in short supply and fans and spectators almost got used to the World Cup leader’s victories. So when would be the weekend when Frenzel’s outstanding command of the Nordic Combined sport would be the most jaw-dropping?

The answer proved to be surprisingly easy in the end: in Frenzel’s „living room“ in Seefeld. What made Frenzel’s fourth TRIPLE victory this outstanding is not the sheer number of successes (after all, we’re talking of the athlete who made the triple TRIPLE a reality, who won three TRIPLE editions by taking the victory on each consecutive day). But the enormous will power and the ability to thrive and deliver under pressure which the German has displayed for years now make this weekend into a special one.

This year’s edition of the TRIPLE was tight. Two times, the 28-year-old had to watch his younger teammate and main competitor for the overall World Cup, Johannes Rydzek, snatch the victories of the day away from him by some centimetres. Had to be strong enough to answer questions if the reigning World Champion was taking his „living room“ from him, had to have the nerves to start 20 seconds behind strong skier Rydzek in the crucial last 15 kilometre race.

But what sets Eric Frenzel apart, what makes him into not only a champion but into a true legend of the Nordic Combined sport is his ability to remain calm, collected and to never ever give up. To rely on his own strength, the inherent knowledge of what his body can do and last but not least his iron will.

In the end, the fourth Nordic Combined TRIPLE was a demonstration of said iron will, the patience and the tactical brilliance of our present-day legend who never got nervous but pounced mercilessly when he saw the chance. In the TRIPLE, the winner takes it all. And in Nordic Combined’s case, this clearly is the superstar, the legend, the Athlete of the Week: Eric Frenzel.