Berni Gruber and Laurent Muhlethaler return to the jumping hill
Dec 03, 2020·Nordic Combined
Bernhard Gruber (AUT) and Laurent Muhlethaler (FRA) and back on the mend.
After Gruber received the green light to continue his career after heart surgery, the 38-year-old ventured back onto the hill for the first time.
Because the national team including jumping coach Christoph Bieler is still training with the World Cup team in Rovaniemi, Gruber completed the first jumps last week with Carinthian base coach Günther Stranner. After a few jumps with short skis on the K30 in Velden, Gruber dared to go to Planica for two units on the K60 hill.On Tuesday and Wednesday, the next step followed on the normal hill in Ramsau am Dachstein.
After his jumps Gruber smiled contentedly: “The first jumps were really cool. I sat at the beam on the K60 in Planica and was just happy to be able to jump again at first. We worked on the basics, the first jumps felt a bit strange. However, I got back into it quickly, it gives me great pleasure again. This week we refined the whole thing with two units on the normal hill. "
When Bernhard Gruber will return to the World Cup is still uncertain. But the Salzburg man has set himself an ambitious goal. “I feel fit and can train very well. If the next two weeks, in which internal test competitions as well as jumping, strength and endurance training are scheduled, go normally, then it looks good. Of course, I'm looking forward to a comeback at the home World Cup in Ramsau am Dachstein in two weeks. But everything really has to fit and I have to be competitive,” said the veteran.
Also Muhlehtaler plans to return in Ramsau
Two months after his last jumps, Laurent Muhlethaler was able to rediscover the sensations of flight on Wednesday morning on the ski jump in Les Tuffes (FRA).
Absent from the first stage of the World Cup due to an arm injury sustained during a skating exercise on the ice of Méribel, he hopes to be able to make his comeback in Ramsau (AUT).
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