Oportunitati

   Este timpul sa ma spovedesc. In momentul in care l-am ales pe domnul Hans Frick sa imi fie antrenor nu stiam foarte bine cine este, ce rezultate a avut, de ce este in stare. M-am gandit ca pare un om bun si ar trebui sa incercam, sa vedem ce se intampla. Intre timp, in aceste 2 luni jumatate am aflat tot ce era de aflat. Oamenii cu adevarat valorosi nu se dau mari. Plec capul in fata sa. Nu exista o cale mai buna.  Este foarte pasionat de schi alpin si de rezultate, sa faca ceva din nimic. Cu mine spre exemplu. Ce antrenor de top din Austria ar lua un roman de 23 de ani, fara o tehnica de baza, care cunoaste schiul mai putin decat un junior de 15 ani din Austria, incercand sa ajunga cu el in Cupa Mondiala intr-o buna zi? Apropo, fara sa il intereseze banii. Pe zi ce trece imi dau seama din ce in ce mai mult cat de norocos sunt ca Georg si Hans m-au acceptat in echipa lor, oferindu-mi astfel conditii de care nu a avut parte un roman de foarte multa vreme. Cu exceptia lui Dan Cristea, poate sunt singurul. Sa explic ce inseamna asta. Pe 9-10 decembrie a fost pentru prima oara cand am urcat noaptea cu gondola. De ce? Pentru ca am avut incredibila oportunitate sa ma antrenez alaturi de lotul de Cupa Europei a Austriei (a doua echipa a tarii).  Raiteralm, Super-G, partie inchisa, combinezon, timp, top! 4 manse in conditii de concurs. Poftim? 4 manse? Nu e prea putin? NU. E perfect.  Acesta este inca un lucru care l-am invatat acest sezon. Ce inseamna cu adevarat caliltate cand vine vorba de antrenamentul pe schiuri (una dintre lucrurile pentru care Romania este unde este in ziua de azi la schi alpin, voi reveni la acest subiect). Poate va intrebati ce mare lucru sa te antrenezi in asa conditii cu austriecii, toata lumea poate. GRESIT.  De obicei nimeni nu poate si asta e ideea. Daca nu faceam parte din echipa lui Hans aveam sansa porcului de Craciun J. Sa dau un exemplu mai pe intelesul tuturor, ca sa ilustrez ce inseamna asta. Joci la Steaua Bucuresti, te antrenezi cu FC Barcelona. Oportunitatile incredibile care imi apar in cale (calea schiurilor) imi ridica moralul si imi dau incredere in mine. Timpii care i-am obtinut in aceste antrenamente in comparatie cu cei mai buni ai Autriei sunt foarte imbucuratori. Semn ca am inceput pe un drum foarte bun.  Am cautat un drum, l-am ales pe acesta. Ideal. Tot ce ramane de facut acuma este sa ascult cuvintele ce provin din imnul clubului mei de fotbal preferat, si sa fac ce spun ele. Walk on…and You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Opportunities

        Confession time. When I choose mister Hans Frick to be my coach I did not know who he was, what he has done, what he can do. I said to myself he is a good guy and I should give it a go. So I found out in the last 2 months and a half all I wanted to know about him. I bow my head to him and say I could have not make a better decision. For sure, by far. He is a very passionate man about skiing and is interested about getting results, making something out of nothing. Take me for instance. What top Austrian coach would take a 23 year old Romanian guy who has no skiing technique whatsoever and knows less about true skiing than a Austrian 15 year old, to try to get with him one day in the World Cup?  With money not important? I cannot stress this enough. How extremely lucky I am Hans and Georg accepted me into their team and offer me conditions I am sure no Romanian had in a really long time. Except Dan Cristea, maybe not ever. For instance take the days of 9-10 December. First time in my life I got up the mountain at night. I was in the gondola and it was night outside. Why, you ask? Because I had the immense privilege to be training alongside the Austrian European Cup team (second team of Austria) in a Super-G course in beautiful Raiteralm. Closed slope, timing, race suit, the works! Four runs in this course, that’s it. Just four runs you are asking? That’s another thing. I have finally understood what quality training means (one of the things because countries like Romania is where it is in the world of skiing, but more on that later). Some of you are probably wondering what’s the big deal training like this, same conditions as the Austrians. Anyone can do it. WRONG. Almost nobody can do it and that’s the point. If I would not have Hans as a coach I could never get even close to them. Let me give you an example of what I mean in football terms. You play for Steaua Bucharest, you train with FC Barcelona. The immense opportunities appearing right before my skis boast my confidence an awful lot. The times I did in these trainings compared to the best in Austria is also a very good sign of a very good path I started to walk on. I’ve been looking for it, I’ve got on it hoping it is the good one. What do you know…it is better than that. Now it is truly the time to embrace that famous saying of my favorite football club. Walk on…and You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Race in Tignes. Or not...

     The weather conditions around Europe are not the best in November. And for the speed disciplines in alpine skiing that can be a real impediment. Normally I should have had 2 races by now. Raiteralm (AUT) European Cup and Tignes (FRA) FIS race. Due to the bad conditions Raiteralm was first postponed and then cancelled. In France it was a different story but the outcome was the same.  We got to France, the race started and after the first 24 racers it was stopped. The organizers did their best to make it happen but fog is one of the things they cannot control. To sum up I visited France for 2 days. The only positives of the trip was that I got to meet my colleagues from the Olympic Team, Ania Caill and Alexandru Barbu. Next race: Val Gardena (ita) 2-3 December.

     Conditiile meteorologice in Noiembrie nu sunt cele mai bune in Europa. Iar pentru ce inseamna probele de viteza ale schiului alpin pot fi un adevarat impediment. In mod normal pana la aceasta data trebuia sa am deja 2 curse in picioare. Raiteralm (AUT) Cupa Europei si Tignes (FRA) FIS. Raiteralm a fost amanat apoi intr-un final anulat, iar cu Tignes alta poveste aceasi deznodamant. Am ajuns pana in Franta, a inceput concursul, dar dupa 24 de numere a fost oprit din cauza cetii la nivelul inferior al cursei. Organizatorii s-au straduit din rasputer insa ceata nu a disparut si intr-un final a fost anulata si aceasta cursa. In concluzie am fost in excursie pana in Franta, singurul lucru pozitiv fiind acela ca mi-am intalnit colegii din Lotul Olimpic de Schi Alpin, Ania Caill si Alexandru Barbu. Urmatorul concurs: 2-3 decembrie, Val Gardena (ITA).

TV Show

     Also a premiere to me, I was invited to Nova TV, a local channel from my region of Brasov. There I took part for 45 minutes to the weekly show 'Campionii' (Champions). I talked about my career, my objectives, the present and so on. Many thanks to mister Istvan Deak, the host of the show for this amazing opportunity. With things like this (and of course with results) I believe we can raise awareness for alpine skiing in Romania. The full interview here: http://www.novapress.ro/video/campionii-4-noiembrie.html.

     Inca o premiera pentru mine. Am fost invitat sa particip la o emisiune pe un post local de televiziune din Brasov. Nova TV. Emisiunea 'Campionii' a insemnat un interviu cu mine cam de 45 de minute unde am vorbit despre cariera mea pana in prezent, obiective, si asa mai departe. Multumesc domnului Istvan Deak, moderatorul emisiunii pentru aceasta oportunitate. Prin lucruri de genul asta (si cu rezultate bineinteles) am incredere ca schiul va ajunge un sport din ce in ce mai mediatizat in tara noastra. Emisiunea in format integral aici: http://www.novapress.ro/video/campionii-4-noiembrie.html.

Press Conference

     On the 1st of November I was made a great honor. My new club, ASC Corona, called a press conference to officially present me as the signing for the ski team. This is the first time something like this was ever done for a alpine skier in Romania. Only thing left to do now is not to let them down. More motivation. I like it. Thanks to the club and to the journalists present. Alpine skiing deserves this kind of attention. http://www.monitorulexpres.ro/?mod=monitorulexpres&p=sport&s_id=131569&Corona-va-avea-un-schior-alpin-la-JO-de-iarna-de-la-Soci .I apologize for putting only the link from Monitorul, there are many others.

     Pe 1 Noiembrie am avut parte de o mare onoare. Noul meu club, ASC Corona, a organizat o conferinta de presa in care am fost prezentat oficial ca noul membru al clubului de schi alpin. Este pentru prima oara cand un schior alpin din Romania are parte de asa ceva. Tot ce ramane de facut este sa nu dezamagesc. Mai multa motivatie. Imi place. Multumesc clubului si jurnalistilor prezenti. Schiul alpin merita aceasta atentie. Imi cer scuze ca pun linkul doar de la monitorul, sunt multe altele. http://www.monitorulexpres.ro/?mod=monitorulexpres&p=sport&s_id=131569&Corona-va-avea-un-schior-alpin-la-JO-de-iarna-de-la-Soci.

Doping :)

     On 31 October I was summoned in Romania by the National Anti Doping Agency. We had a quick brief about the ADAMS account and after a doping test. Basically this is a log on the internet where you have to say where you are at all times, just in case the people there want to come 'check you out'. They treated us good (me and my colleagues Alexandru Barbu and Ania Caill) so we left happy campers.I sure hope they are not going to catch Barbu :(.

     Pe 31 octombrie am fost chemat in Romania de catre Agentia Nationala Anti Doping. Am avut o instruire legata de contul ADAMS, iar la final un test doping. Pe scurt contul ADAMS este un log pe internet unde trebuie spui unde esti in orice clipa, in caz ca vor sa te verifice de substante interzise. Oamenii de acolo s-au purtat bine cu noi (eu si colegii mei Alexandru Barbu si Ania Caill) si am plecat fericiti. Sper sa nu il prinda pe Barbu :(.

Hintertux

   Crazy weeks. A lot of important things happened. But let's start with the beginning. In October I had my first training camp with my new team, Georg and Hans. Absolutely amazing. I learn new things every day. Its a totally different level than the one I am used to, learning things I didn't know existed. Better late then never. In this camp I also had the Amazing opportunity to train along side some of the best skiing teams in the world: Austria Europa Cup (Ladies) and Italian World Cup (men and ladies). All thanks to my coach Hans. I have to say the most important thing I comprehended this week is just how lucky I am to train with Hans and Georg. Lucky that they accepted me and believe in me. Thanks guys...

     Saptamani haotice. Multe evenimente importante. Dar sa incepem cu inceputul. In Octombrie am avut primul stagiu de pregatire cu noua mea echipa de viteza, Georg si Hans. Absolut minunat. Invat lucruri noi in fiecare zi. E cu totul alt nivel decat am fost obisnuit pana acuma, invatand lucruri care habar nu aveam ca exista. Mai bine mai tarziu decat niciodata. In acest stagiu am avut si incredibila sansa de a ma antrena in aceleasi conditii precum mari echipe ale lumii: Austria Ladies (Europa Cup), Italia Men and Ladies (Europa and World Cup). Toate aceastea datorita antrenorului meu, Hans. Insa cel mai important lucru care l-am inteles saptamana asta este ca sunt foarte norocos. Foarte norocos ca Georg si Hans m-au primit la ei in echipa si cred in mine. Multumesc...