“For me, it was almost not fast enough, with tying the shoes, sitting on the beam and finally jumping,” said Eva Pinkelnig regarding her long-awaited return to the hill. The 38-year-old athlete, who won the overall World Cup in the 2022/23 season, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, meniscus damage, and cartilage issues in her left knee during a Summer Grand Prix event. After 12 months of rehabilitation, she successfully returned to the jumping hills in mid-September in Tschagguns.
A Journey of Recovery and Reflection
Reflecting on her time away from the sport, Pinkelnig described the experience as a period of physical and emotional healing. While she admitted to feeling impatient during her recovery, she credited her support network—including physiotherapists, sports scientists, nutritionists, a sports psychologist, and her family—for ensuring her return was managed safely. “For me, it was sometimes not that easy emotionally, just because I wanted to do more than hold back,” she said. Beyond the physical recovery, she noted that the time away allowed her to process past difficulties within the sport, describing the period as one that helped her feel “free and light” again. She recalled that prior to her injury, she had suffered through “dark times” characterized by internal chaos and “lazy compromises” that left “scars on the soul,” but noted that this healing time allowed her to move past those burdens.
Looking Toward the World Cup Season
Now back in training, Pinkelnig is focused on rejoining the world elite. She expressed high praise for the current team structure under head coach Thomas Diethart, noting that the environment is now defined by better communication and support, specifically highlighting that staff now listen to the athletes—a factor she feels has been lacking in women’s sports. As she prepares for the upcoming season, she has set her sights on major highlights including the Four Hills Tournament, the World Championships in Falun, and ski flying in Planica.
- The 38-year-old views the inclusion of women in the Four Hills Tournament as a significant, long-overdue milestone for the sport, noting it should have been prioritized even before the introduction of women’s ski flying.
- Within the Austrian team, she jokingly refers to herself as “the grandma,” while identifying teammate Lisa Fettner as a vital pillar of the squad who serves as the team’s primary sporting benchmark.
- Pinkelnig, who made her World Cup debut at age 26, is a winner of 16 individual World Cup events.
