Better than the Best up in Are all cracked

As he is there. He made a list with things he wanted to do in life, but three-quarters of them had to be deleted. As he was lost in the thoughts, objectives, tasks, hope, searched, and nothing found. In those moments, Thomas Fogdö crashed in a deep valley, and the free fall seemed to have no end.

Fogdö, once of the best slalom riders in the world, it's still running, but only in the Dreams, and these are rare. He sits in a wheelchair, tomorrow is the day marks the anniversary of the 24. Time, at the whim of fate played him bad. During the Training in Are, he switched the slope, he strapped the Ski to take a shortcut, and then: "Then it happened," he says. On a sheet of ice, the Swede lost the Balance. He slid down the mountain. Until a tree stump stopped. And his life lay in ruins.

Fogdö is back at the place he thinks every day he will always remember. To the stump of a tree, he never returned, but he knows exactly where this was. He has stopped asking why he had not been a metre further to the left or to the right, fall down, and why it had it must meet. "It was a learning process that took years," says Fogdö. It is a matter of perspective, as with such an incident will be handled, "it would have been no Butt, but a whole tree, I would not have survived the accident".

euphoria and Depression

Five Slaloms of the 48-Year-old won in his much too short career. In 1993, he won the discipline world Cup, he was better than the Tombas, Girard Ellis, Aamodts. Once it was all over, with 24, and for Fogdö began with a broken spine and paraplegia a Phase of gloom. Over three years, he was very sad, he varied between gentle euphoria, when he was preparing, self-employed, and severe Depression, when he realized how helpless he was but still.

a Lot harder than I thought, this 24-hour battle day-to-day have been, says Fogdö. "The accident has destroyed me mentally, almost." But he faced his Fears, worked as soon as a TV pundit, he was now simply the sat, and the others were standing. It felt good to belong, but as he returned each home of the race, it was dark in him. This went on for a long time, Fogdö was disoriented, but he fought his way back to the right path. "I learned in this time to talk about feelings, emotions. I have been totally foreign to."

Foundation and prevention

A little thought Thomas Fogdö lost and where he is not bitter. He talks nothing nice to say several times that he would give almost anything to be able to walk again, because everything would be much easier. However, Fogdö has ceased to hope for it – rather, he has arranged, re-aligned. He maintains the "Actif Life Foundation", a Foundation for injured athletes, which should be helped with financial grants and to the appeal is made to secure support. Fogdö says, he was not carelessly gone through life carefree, a training he did.

Many athletes would think little of the time after the career, "for me, it's about awareness that you are provisioning. After a bad injury the whole Foundation collapses, because there is no energy left to deal with existential questions."

In Are, is Fogdö Ambassador of a company that fights for safety in road traffic. He has taken on the task, for the prevention of accidents. After the world Cup he is holding seminars about his life, as a mental coach to work. Among his clients are skiers, primary, juniors as well as professionals, the name he wants to tell no. With the scene of the two-time Olympic participants remained in connection with it is troublesome it can be used with the wheelchair in the snow, "there are obstacles, can not think of a pedestrian approach."

Three children and the mess

skiing Fogdö is no longer up to today. First of all, he vowed to never do it again, out of self-protection, he now thinks differently, he wants to try it with the Mono-Ski, at some point.

He could accompany his nine-year-old daughters, of which three are what enrich his life. With his wife Anna he had wanted children, but it couldn't do that, in the summer of 2009, finally, the Couple was allowed to adopt the little Saga soon after their birth. And because the vagaries of fate can also be wonderful, Anna became pregnant, the day before Christmas eve, the twins came to the world. Almost out of nowhere three girls were in the house, Chaos reigned, and Fogdö started thinking: What if a child from the swing is falling and I can't help? If it runs on the road, and I can't stop it?

Fogdö has found ways how to deal with it, has learned to accept help.

As he succeeded, for the first time, even the pants, he felt like a world Cup victory.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 05.02.2019, 23:28 PM