Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (24) has fought her way back to the top of the world after the horrific injury that kept her out for a year and a half.
On Saturday last weekend, it peaked with the curry first podium in downhill.
– That was amazing. My God, first podium in the downhill. I didn’t expect that, said Vickhoff Lie to VG a few hours after second place in the downhill was secured in the Italian Cortina d’Ampezzo.
At the same time, she pushed her teammate Ragnhild Mowinckel out of the podium, but the Molde woman nevertheless threw herself at Vickhoff Lie in the jubilation.
– What does it say about Ragnhild, that she was so happy about your success at the same time as she loses the podium place?
– If there is anyone who perhaps understands the situation I am in after injury, it is Ragnhild. I think she relived some of her experiences there too, so it was a lot of fun, says Vickhoff Lie.
– That’s probably true. If you have been through it and know how tough the game is, you relive those feelings. You don’t realize it even when it’s going on, but if you stand on the outside, you see more. It means so much, it is difficult to describe, says Mowinckel to VG and continues:
– There is a feeling of “I did it again”, and you could see that in Kajsa. It makes me so happy to the core.
– She has been very faithful to the process she is in. She has grown like crazy as a performer and person after those injuries.
24-year-old Vickhoff Lie hopes they can now share more moments, also on the podium.
– I have a dream that we can share the podium once.
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If we turn the clock back almost two years, to February 2021, the situation was completely different.
Vickhoff Lie had just taken her first super-G podium in her career, before she delivered a strong fifth place in the WC.
Then, during the super-G race in Italy’s Val di Fassa, the then 22-year-old bearing fell badly, which led to a fracture of the shin. Several operations later she was finally back in the World Cup this season.
– First of all, it’s nice to be back skiing and not have any pain at all. And then again being able to drive fast in addition is a huge plus. I enjoy going back so much anyway, but it’s extra fun when it goes by so quickly, she says.
So it is a bit special that the podium came in Cortina, Italy. The country she was injured in, when all dreams and ambitions were put on hold.
– Someone said it to me before the race, that it is the first race I run in this country since my injury. It’s a bit like that love-hate-relationship.love-hate-relationship.love-hate relationship
– But now we’re probably more into “love”, she laughs.
There was love for Ragnhild Mowinckel the day after her teammate’s victory too – when the roles were reversed in the goal area:
It is strange for Kajsa Vickhoff Lie to look back on the injuries now that she has made a comeback and is back on the podium.
– There have been a lot of ups and downs, more than I’m used to. But it’s also a bit of fun, being able to build yourself up a bit. We live off progression, so it’s nice to have great progression again when you have to start from scratch, says Vickhoff Lie.
– But then it’s also about just trusting what you do. It was a bit of a slow start to the season, but I had so much faith in what we were working on and how we were going to drive fast. I just knew that I have to go through a process where I continue to be calm. So hopefully it will come soon. What I did now is not only a confirmation of that, but it gives enormous confidence to the whole team.
Teammate Ragnhild Mowinckel has seen that process clearly from the outside.
– There have been many setbacks and complications for Kajsa. It is rarely an injury without additional problems. She has been very faithful to the process she is in. She has grown like crazy as a performer and person after those injuries, says Mowinckel.
