Suddenly there was a jump. It was intended for ski jumping. A small so-called mobile ski jump that was set up for an advertising campaign in Dornbirn south of Lake Constance. And it is still not entirely clear who came to whom, the later winner to the hill, or the hill to the later winner, namely Eva Pinkelnig from Dornbirn.
In any case, a good ten years ago she immediately made friends with the Minibakken and started her ski jumping career. This led her into dark depths and bright heights, she is currently preparing to win the New Year’s Eve tour. On Thursday she also won the second competition and leads ahead of Katharina Althaus from Oberstdorf, who came in second this time with strong jumps, but is already behind the leading Austrian with 24.4 points.
At that time it was rather pinkling who found the mobile ski jump. Mobile ski jumps don’t care who jumps on them, they move on anyway, to other customers. But Pinkelnig was infected, she stayed true to ski jumping. The word jumping has a double meaning here. She had already shown the daring that she later found when jumping in the first air phase before it all began. Not every person who is already working, who is pursuing a fulfilling job as a trained educator, leaves everything behind and starts from scratch. But peeing thought about it for a moment and then took off over the big bucks of life into sport.
She learned that this sport can send you straight to the hospital
She was already 24 years old and she left Vorarlberg, the lake and the climbing mountains behind. Because she was well trained, because she obviously had a feeling for complicated sports techniques, because she described herself as a bit crazy, she ended up in exactly the right sport: the often unpredictable, crazy ski jumping. It took a correspondingly long time before she reached the level she is showing these days. At that time it was still the time of the premieres, for example at the 2014 Olympics, which Carina Vogt won. The women were still struggling to be taken seriously and not everyone was a confident athlete like Austria’s Daniela Iraschko-Stolz or her spontaneous and crazy teammate Pinkelnig.
She enjoyed this happy hormone sport and this life, which she spent in training centers in the summer and on flying hills in the winter. She was always in a good mood and didn’t shy away from taking risks because she had this temperament, as she once said: “I’m very extroverted, and that just has to come out.” But then, in 2016, she got to know the downside of ski jumping. She learned that this is an extreme sport that can take her straight from the ski jump to the hospital.
During a training crash, Pinkelnig tore his spleen and was in mortal danger
Despite her wild nature, pee doesn’t seem like she’s playing with her health. She just pushes the limits, like many ski jumpers. She, too, has now found a good balance between risk and caution, but the way there brought her to the hospital three times. In 2016, for example, she was admitted with a severe traumatic brain injury, and at first it was not foreseeable what the neurological consequences would be. she came back Three years later, at the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld, she won silver with the team and in mixed. The late career was able to get off to a good start, but then she fell during training, tore her spleen, lost a liter of blood and was in mortal danger at times.
It’s probably normal when extreme sports enthusiasts don’t get back into shape after such an experience, but Pinkelnig learned again and found a way back onto the hill. The decision to continue was made quickly, and returning was hard work. It took her longer to get a foothold now. She never lacked courage, she once said on the internet portal Vorarlberg Online, “it was always there,” and she still kept it. Healing the neurological injuries took longer. But Pinkelnig wanted to go back to the ski jumps and went through a phase again without any intoxication or euphoria, but in slow steps, in a visualization therapy with which she overcame fears and was eventually able to jump again.
Perhaps that late in her career is the real beginning, the start of harvest time. Pinkelnig, once a climber, therapist, late ski jumper, crash pilot and returnee, has now entered the phase of success.