The news was promising at the start of the week as Chemmy Alcott announced to her army of fans around the world that she was heading to Garmisch with plans to race in the World Cup. Sadly the news after she tried her boots on was not so good. Helen Scott-Smith asked Chemmy a few questions as she stood in the finish after the training runs for the Downhill.
Chemmy you were on the starting list so what has happened?
I came to Garmisch with the hope to race, after my crash at the world Champs in the DH training I suffered quite a lot of pain to my leg and saw a lot of doctors who tried to patch me back together so that I can at least ski some more this season and last week I started to walk again and was quite positive. Then I flew out here and tried my ski boot on and I had pain with the ski boot on without even skiing and with the forces of skiing I knew that there was not going to be a chance that I could race here so today I am just playing coach Chemmy and helping the rest of my team out and it is nice to see a race from a different point of view.
Have you already thought about what you are going to do, what are your plans for the future?
I am aiming to have surgery, to have all the metal work taken out. This year has been amazing to come back from that horrific crash I had in LL, I have had to contend with quite a lot of pain, taking pain killers and numbing my leg, which I did really well with and I have world cup points but I want to ski and feel the passion to ski pain free. Next year is probably the biggest year of my career and maybe the last year I am going to ski. I have made the decision to take all the metal work out and come back healthier and stronger than ever
When will that happen?
I am not sure, hopefully quite soon. I am going to have the operation in Innsbruck, quite soon with Dr. Fink who does all the surgery for the Austrian team, as he really knows about skiing and the type of surgery that I have had before. I am really optimistic and it is tough to miss the end of the season, the race that I have missed have been fantastic - Meribel in the sun and here looking like it is going to be another great race. That is the nature of the sport - I will go and be an injury buddy of Lindsey's. I am sure she can come back and we can come back together.
Have you had contact with Lindsey Vonn, do you think you can do it together?
No I have not had contact with Lindsey but I have emailed and tweeted her to say that I am thinking about her as there are not many who have been through what she is going through. She has a lovely group around her and a lot of support from her family so she probably does not need me!
We all wish Chemmy a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her racing again next season on the road to Sochi.