Small breaks from training, a bit of family time, good food: this is how top athletes plan their holidays. For most of them, it’s a balancing act
In the last contemplative hours before the Four Hills Tournament, Karl Geiger even meets the Christ Child. The time with his three-year-old daughter is a welcome change for the ski jumping star before the season’s highlight – and a completely different kind of challenge.
“With us, the Christ Child is still coming. You have to make sure that you do it in such a way that they don’t see it when you hide the presents,” says Geiger.
Many sports stars feel the same way as the 30-year-old from Oberstdorf over the holidays, which are usually a balancing act between contemplation and training. For many top athletes, there is little opportunity for feasting and relaxing. “There are no rest days in rowing, that’s the thing. Eating, celebrating, but also training,” says rowing world champion Oliver Zeidler. The 27-year-old doesn’t want to take a break over the Christmas period for his big goal of the Olympics in Paris.
Special holidays for Angelique Kerber
Tennis star Angelique Kerber has to leave her family again on Christmas Day and make her way to Australia. There she will start her comeback season with the German team and alongside Alexander Zverev on December 30 in Sydney at the United Cup, a mixed competition.
Kerber became a mother this year and is therefore particularly looking forward to the holidays. “I think it will be a completely different Christmas feeling than all the years before. That’s why it’s super important for me to really enjoy this feeling,” says the 35-year-old.
She plans to spend Christmas Eve with her ten-month-old daughter Liana at her family home in Poland. “We all sit together and have a good time. We eat carp on Christmas Eve, that’s a Polish tradition,” Kerber reveals.
Short breaks for Dauser and the field hockey world champions
Gymnastics world champion Lukas Dauser has also prescribed himself a short family wellness program. First a visit to his parents-in-law in Berlin, then to his sister in Munich – that’s Dauser’s plan. “It’s always a nice time because it’s simply quiet and contemplative,” says the 30-year-old. Between the years, however, he will “definitely” train again, assures the Sportsman of the Year.
Field hockey world champion Mats Grambusch also swears by discipline. “Unfortunately, I can’t enjoy cookies and mulled wine every day. We are professional athletes and have intensive training sessions and individual training plans during the days,” says the captain of the German national team. As a young father of a daughter, Grambusch is nevertheless particularly looking forward to the days at home this year
Winter athletes under deadline stress
Some winter sports enthusiasts are plagued by everyday problems between the World Cup and the Christmas rush. “It’s not so easy to get presents when you’re traveling so much. But luckily there’s online shopping,” says biathlete Sophia Schneider.
Once the presents are all bought, the only question left is: what’s on the table? “We have the same thing every year: Chicken and chips with a salad,” says ski jumper Katharina Schmid. “Eating well with the family” is also what World Cup overall leader Stefan Kraft wants
Before the trip to the Four Hills Tournament, “you can have a glass of wine and spend two days relaxing and thinking very little about ski jumping,” assures the 30-year-old Austrian. Soon enough, the contemplation will be over for Kraft too
