Training in Europe 2020 : UPDATE
Luxembourger Wort has published an excellent article. Please open wort.lu
TRANSLATION
It was a setback that Jeff Bauer coped with with ease: “Despite all the precautionary measures I was infected with Covid-19 in Königssee,” says the 47-year-old skeleton pilot.
“I did a test and it was my fifth time to switch to another track. It was positive. ” The ten days of quarantine in a hotel at the ice arena in Bavaria went symptom-free for Bauer. “I was lucky. Two good friends of mine lost their fathers to Corona. ”
After the infection, the Luxembourger by choice spent the Christmas holidays in Park City in the United States. Before the stage in Königssee, Bauer had trained in Innsbruck (A) with the Swiss national skeleton team and in Altenberg (D) with the Spanish national skeleton team.
These three racetracks are particularly important for the learning process – also with a view to the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in February 2022: “The tracks have a roundabout, a 360-degree curve that does not exist in the USA,” reveals the member the elite sports section of the COSL (Comité olympique et sportif luxembourgeois) .
“It is very difficult to control the waves. If you don’t have the right timing, the mistakes in the corner will get worse. ”The exercise is important because the Olympic track in China, which is still under construction, will also have a roundabout.
In January, Bauer is going back to Altenberg to continue training. The first competition is also on the program a little later on the ice channel in the Ore Mountains. At the same time, ski racer Matthieu Osch and short tracker Peter Murphy will also try to get into position for Beijing 2022.
MENTAL.LU VIDEO | CORONA VIRUS by Jeff Bauer
Containment, restrictions … Like us, athletes are undergoing the upheavals due to the corona virus epidemic. Contacted by Mental, they wanted to give you their news and above all bring you strength and courage for the future!
Every day, our champions will come and say a few words to you. This morning, it’s Jeff Bauer from Utah in the USA who tells you how he lives this period.
TRANSLATION OF THE VIDEO
My name is Jeff Bauer. I have competed for Luxembourg as a Skeleton athlete for the past 4 seasons including 2 world championships and 1 world cup competition. I live and train in Park City, Utah where I work full time. I am an engineer.
All of the restaurants, stores, gyms, and non-essential businesses are closed but due to the nature of my work, I am required to go into the office every day.
Because the gym where I normally train is now closed, I am trying to create a gym in my garage to continue my training. But as you can see it is empty. Everyone else had the same great idea and now there is very little equipment in stock. I placed an order 2 weeks ago and I am waiting very patiently for it to arrive.
I have learned a lot about the strength of the human spirit when faced with dangerous challenges. I have learned to face them head first, full speed ahead. The world is now faced with the challenge of defeating a dangerous, invisible competitor. I am confident the strength of the human spirit will join forces to defeat this deadly virus full speed ahead.
To all of my friends in Luxembourg and throughout the world: May you and your families be well during this difficult time.
Thank You Luxemburger WORT for this article
Translation
Jeff Bauer: More than adrenaline
When he starts up in the ice channel, Jeff Bauer hides his surroundings. There is only him and his sled left. Photo: John Bauer
Luxembourg has a deep emotional meaning for skeleton pilot Jeff Bauer. Its history begins after the Second World War.
In 2018 Jeff Bauer missed participation in the Winter Olympics due to a missing signature. In two years the skeleton pilot wants to make it to Beijing at the age of 48. The Grand Duchy plays an important role in this.
“There are no coincidences”
When Jeff Bauer’s story begins, he wasn’t even born. After the Second World War, Bauer’s American grandfather marched through Luxembourg with the Allies. It crosses the village of Fels. 36 years later, Bauer’s father moved to Europe with the family around the then six-year-old Jeff for a job at Goodyear – and found a new home in Fels of all places.
There are no coincidences, ”says Jeff Bauer when he talks about his family’s history. The bond with Luxembourg is not only an entry in the annals for the now 46-year-old, but extremely emotional. “Luxembourg was the last place we really were together,” he says. “This is why this country is so important to me.” When Bauer returned to the United States with his family in the 1990s, the parents separated. From then on, Jeff’s connection to Luxembourg was set in stone.
Olympic dream
Bauer is now wearing his former homeland on his chest: he has been a Luxembourg citizen for almost two years – and regularly plunges down an ice channel as a semi-professional in the skeleton bobsleighing discipline. But what started as a hobby around five years ago has now become more ambitious.
“I learn quickly,” explains Bauer about his short-term progress, which currently led him to 90th place in the world rankings. Bauer will start on Saturday at the European Championships in Sigulda, Latvia. In two years he wants to be at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN).
“That is my ultimate goal,” explains Bauer. “But the qualification is even more difficult this time.” While there were 30 skeleton starting positions in Pyeongchang (KOR) in 2018, there will now be only 25 in the Chinese capital. Since some countries are only allowed to send one athlete, Bauer has to advance to the top 60 in the world rankings on his own account.
Little tragedy
The ambitious athlete knows exactly what it feels like to have the goal in mind. Bauer had the required ranking for the past winter games, all he needed was the Luxembourg passport. But after passing the language test, for which he was only given a place at the last second as a replacement, his Olympic debut failed due to the bureaucracy.
The decisive signature came too late – even though the organizers in Pyeongchang had postponed the deadline especially for him. But this “little tragedy” is ticked off. “I’m all the happier now that I’m finally Luxembourgish. I’m extremely proud of that, ”says Bauer, who has been part of the COSL elite team since July last year.
The next fall is sure to come
The 46-year-old lives in the USA, in Park City in the state of Utah. There, not far from the ice channel of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Bauer discovered his passion. “I’ve only been competing since 2016,” he reveals. “When you do what you love, your heart, soul and body are in harmony. Then you get better quickly, ”the New Luxembourger is certain. This enthusiasm for sports was already noticeable in his youth in the Grand Duchy when Bauer was playing basketball for the young Luxembourg team.
His current passion is much colder – and more painful. During training in Latvia, Bauer promptly flew off the sled and injured his thigh. It was far from his first fall. Also at the World Cup in Lake Placid (USA) in December the winter sports enthusiast was caught at full speed. “My Latvian trainer Lelde Priedulena asked me right after the race how I was doing. I was unsettled but intact. She said that I had to go down again immediately. I needed a good run to get the fall out of my head. ”
In the skeleton, the athletes ride on their stomach on a special toboggan through an ice channel. The name came about because of the sled, which was reminiscent of a steel skeleton, especially in the first models. In 1928, Skeleton made its debut at the Olympic Games in St. Moritz (CH). After a long break, with a short comeback at the 1948 Winter Games, the discipline was resumed in 2002 in Salt Lake City (USA). Acting Olympic champion is South Korean Yun Sung-bin.
Luxembourg in the heart
In Sigulda too, Bauer is concerned with gaining experience and gaining routine. “I want to get to know as many routes as possible this season – and deliver respectable times,” he explains. Bauer has been chasing ice in Germany, Russia, Canada, the USA and now Latvia since mid-October. The many trips allowed him to work as an engineer at Triumph Gear Systems. In the process planning for aviation, the elite athlete can organize his work on the go on a laptop.
Bauer also strengthens the connection to his chosen nation between the units. “I take Luxembourgish lessons on Skype once a week. Above all, I want to be able to speak to the other athletes in their mother tongue. ”The importance the small country has for the American-born is clearly noticeable. “My family and I talk more about Luxembourg than ever before. It’s not just sport for me, it’s a lot more. ”