Olympic champion admits:

“My back needs a lot of care, of course”

Alessandro Hämmerle(Bild: GEPA)

This weekend, the snowboard cross World Cup continues in Beidahu, China, after a seven-week break. Austria's aces around Olympic champion Alessandro Hämmerle took a trip to the Great Wall after a short training camp in Secret Garden - despite the icy temperatures.

"It was really freezing cold and there was also a strong wind. But most of the locals were completely unimpressed," said Olympic champion Alessandro "Izzi" Hämmerle, describing his impressions of the trip to the Great Wall of China on Monday. The trip had come about after he and the ÖSV team had finished their short training camp in Secret Garden - where Izzi won Olympic gold almost three years ago. "The memories that came back to me there were very positive," the 33-year-old revealed. "You can also feel the magnitude, the dimension, of the success back then."

World Cup double at the weekend
Gaschurner, who had to miss the World Cup opener in December due to problems with a slipped vertebra, was also quite satisfied with the training sessions: "We actually had great conditions on site and my back also cooperated quite well. Of course it needs a lot of care afterwards, but basically I'm very positive about how the days went." On Tuesday, the high-speed train continued to Beidahu, where two World Cup races are scheduled for this weekend.