“I accept the challenge and look forward to it!”

Even though the two-time Olympic and six-time World Champion Johannes Rydzek had to postpose his church wedding in June, he is still focussed on preparing for the next season and his home World Championships. In TUESDAY TALK, he spoke about this everyday training life, new coach Heinz Kuttin and closing the gap to Jarl Magnus Riiber.

Johannes, how is life in the Allgäu region during Corona times?

Johannes Rydzek: For me personally it’s not a lot different than for others, as the restrictions also affect me. Unfortunately, the phase of the hard lockdown happened right after the season, when you usually spend as much time as possible with family and friends. This was different and so we adapted. The weather in April was legendary and so I was able to enjoy the outdoors and the nature. I also concentrated on my bachelor thesis, which I will hand in at the end of May.

Due to the pandemic, you and your wife Lissi also had to postpone your church wedding planned for this June. How did you deal with this?

Rydzek: We postponed the event for one year, until 2021. We did not invest too mich time and energy in the preparations yet, as we knew it was going to be hard to have events but it’s still a bit aggravating. But of course it is important to us to have a nice celebration with all our families and friends, so we will have to have some patience.

You are in the early stages of the season preparation right now. How does your training look like at the moment and which restrictions do you face?

Rydzek: We started at the beginning of May and are working on the basic endurance at the moment. We learned from last season, now the focus is to train strength and certain muscle groups and well as endurance before we go to the jumping hills.

We don’t have a lot of restrictions in this kind of training, we are using the Olympic training centre’s fitness room. Obviously here you can only have a limited amount of people and everybody has to adhere to the hygiene rules. Everybody got their specific training times and some exercises can only be done alone or in pairs.

It will be more interesting when we return to the hill, not because of the Corona virus but because the hills in Oberstdorf are not ready for summer training yet. The closest hill is no Oberhof, because Hinterzarten is also under construction. This is quite a way to drive and we will see if we can actually sleep there. But of course everybody is struggling with issues like these at the moment, so I don’t want to complain.

Jarl Magnus Riiber has dominated the World Cup in the last two years. What will be important in the summer preparation to close the gap to him?

Rydzek: Jarl raised the jumping level considerably and turned the Nordic Combined scene upside down with it. It is all about keeping a level head right now. We have to work hard and concentrate on ourselves. We have to keep pushing because if you start a minute later than him, it is hard to fight for a podium spot. But everyone has to find their individual path and you cannot focus on what Jarl or other competitors do too much. This is a challenge I accept and I look forward to it!

The German Ski Federation has contracted Heinz Kuttin as new jumping coach for your team. Have you been in contact with him already and which new impulses are you hoping for from him?

Rydzek: The team met for the annual fitness test in Oberhof and this is also the first time we met Heinz Kuttin. He celebrated big successes as a ski jumping and was in charge of many of the big names in the Polish and Austrian teams. I think he is a good man for our team and will give us a new perspective on the sport. I heard many good things about him and his work in the past. I can only say more after the cooperation progressed a while but I am very optimistic.

Ronny Ackermann, who has been part of the coaching staff since 2011, made way for Kuttin in the team. How important has Ronny been for your career?

Rydzek: I have known him since I was a child. When he won two World Championship titles in Oberstdorf in 2005, I was 12 and already did Nordic Combined. His successes were such a motivation for me to reach the national team. When I came to that team as a young athlete and did camps and World Cups with him, he passed on a lot of experience to me. He was an important part of the team and I don’t think we would have celebrated that many successes in PyeongChang without him.

I can understand that he left the team, even if he did not share all of his reasons with us. I respect his decision and see this change as a chance now, even though this should in no way limit his importance for us in the last few years. Ronny has done great things for the German Ski Federation, as an athlete and as a coach.

Interview: 24passion GmhH