Edit Miklós alpine downhill skier: “I will fight for Olympic gold!”
Edit Miklós could have stood on the podium in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, if she hadn’t made a mistake at the beginning of the alpine downhill race; but the seventh place is still incredible achievement. Edit reached 102 km/h top speed; she was faster than the favorites of the event said head-coach Barnabás Kovács.
The 25-year-old alpine downhill skier of Csíkszereda has trained under tough conditions while preparing for the Olympics; the government aid arrived only in the last minute when the athletes were already in Sochi said the head-coach.
” You have to fight for your goals and I will fight for them! Until the next Olympics, there will be two World Championships and many World Cup series. Four tough seasons ahead of me with lots of successes and disappointments, joys, tears and painful moments… But I will fight for Olympic gold!” – Edit Miklós.
“We’re very happy because the seventh place is a big thing, taking into account the unfavorable training conditions under which Edit had to train while preparing for the Olympics,” said the head coach of the Hungarian team.
“The mistake Edit made at the start cost her four or five tenths of a second; only three athletes passed that section of the track flawlessly. If she hadn’t made that mistake, she would have won a medal” said the coach.
Among others, Edit was faster than Maria Höfl-Riescht of Germany, Nicole Hospot of Austria, Julia Mancuso of US and 2011 Word Champion Elisabeth Görgl of Austria.
“Training conditions for Edit were far less ideal than that of the top athletes of the winning nations. Luckily, she managed to get in top shape just before the Olympics,” said the Kovács.
Among Hungarian alpine skiers no one so far finished in top ten at any Olympics. Edit Miklós will receive 35 World Cup points for the seventh place finish, which improves her chances in future competitions.
According to Kovács, Edit needs a secure financial background – sponsors – so that she can concentrate only on training.
Obviously, she will receive a one-time recognition for the seventh-place, but it won’t be enough to continue her career without financial support; it doesn’t help her career if she constantly has to worry about money issues – training camps and travel expenses cost lots of money.
For other top athletes, money is not a problem, they can afford to travel to summer training camps in any parts of the world. But in the case of Edit money is always an issue said the coach.
Edit needs a regular income and she also needs a support team explained the coach. German or a Swiss athletes have support staff traveling with them helping all aspects of preparations like for instance, shooting videos and analyzing them in order to improve the techniques of the athletes. Edit’s equipment in terms of quality is also not as good as that of the top athletes said the coach.
According to Kovács, the only difference between Edit Miklós and Höfl-Riesch or Marcuso is that the German and the American girls have already won Olympic gold medals and Edit still hasn’t. Edit can compete at least two more Olympics; her goal is to win Olympic medal. Höfl-Riesch or Marcuso have already won gold medals but one day Edit Miklós will also become an Olympic champion said head-coach Barnabás Kovács.
Photo: MTI
Source: http://hungarianambiance.com/