After a nasty injury

Like the Herminator of old! Ski ace amazed everyone

Melissa Köck came up trumps at the World Ski Championships for deaf athletes in Jasna.(Bild: Melissa Köck)

When she first saw Hermann Maier's unbelievable fall in Nagano and the subsequent Olympic gold fairytale, Melissa Köck said to her father: "I want to be like the Herminator". Now, after a nasty knee injury, she has made a similarly brilliant comeback as Maier after his motorcycle accident. The Carinthian won gold twice at the World Ski Championships for deaf athletes in Jasna! She amazed everyone.

Melissa Köck was jubilant after her coups in the super-G (Wednesday) and in the combined (Friday): "I'm simply speechless. This feeling four and a half months after the operation is indescribable and emotional. It means an incredible amount to me. Looking back, it was definitely one of the most difficult paths I've ever taken. Many thanks to everyone who supported me, helped me and believed in me."

Melissa Köck with her gold in the super combined.(Bild: Jürgen Albel)

Like the Herminator once did
Flashback: In the summer, "Melli" was still in hospital and the World Championships were a long way off. But the title fights in Jasna were her greatest motivation. And now the Carinthian has even won two gold medals - her first victories at a World Championships! And in doing so, she has also successfully emulated her great idol Hermann Maier. After his serious motorcycle accident, the "Herminator" also won giant slalom gold at the 2005 Alpine World Ski Championships in Bormio.

Coach Jürgen Albel from the Olympic training center in Carinthia is there live in Jasna. The 52-year-old has known "Melli" since her youth: "She has always been an excellent skier. She is very ambitious and can sometimes be stubborn, which I mean in an absolutely positive way. She reads my lips, we understand each other blindly."

Sense of balance is increasingly trained
The Carinthian, who once also worked with greats such as Hermann Maier and Matthias Mayer, emphasizes: "Working with deaf athletes is not very different from working with hearing athletes. But the communicative part is of course very exciting, it also helps you as a person." The coach can also speak parts of sign language.

Albel says: "The only real difference is that deaf skiers have more problems with their sense of balance when visibility on the slopes is poor. That's why this is trained more intensively."

Five gold medals won at the Olympic Games for deaf athletes!
So there was a special session on Thursday (see video above). That paid off. The giant slalom follows on Saturday. The World Championships end on Monday with the slalom. Who knows what else Melissa will manage. At the Deaflympics in Turkey, the army athlete won five gold medals before her serious knee injury!

Melissa Köck with David Alaba at the Lotterien-Sporthilfe-Gala.(Bild: Melissa Köck)

Melissa Köck with Felix Neureuther at the Lotterien-Sporthilfe-Gala.(Bild: Melissa Köck)

It was only natural that David Alaba and Felix Neureuther enjoyed taking photos with "Melli" at last year's Lotterien-Sporthilfe Gala in the Wiener Stadthalle.

This is what winners look like: Christoph Lebelhuber, Melissa Köck and Johanna Köttl.(Bild: Jürgen Albel)

There was also jubilation for the Upper Austrian aces Christoph Lebelhuber and Johanna Köttl, who both won the bronze medal in the super-G. In the super combined, they both came fourth, narrowly missing out on further precious metal.