Interview Report with and about Andrea

After the fan club had passed the dress rehearsal at the ATT successfully, only an interview with “our” Andrea was missing for further preparation for upcoming tasks. Curious as we are, we wanted to know much more than just the sporting backgrounds, of course, so we had a very personal conversation… In the end it got an expedition with many surprises!

Andrea about training and seasonal preparation
In the previous years there were even training camps during the summer months (e.g. Belmekken, Bulgaria). Now, in the post-Olympic season, one wanted to scare off the athletes a bit less in foreign pastures… They should mainly prepare at their local base. Circumstances, that not really caused cheers at Andrea’s at first, but finally she liked it. Staying in the same place for several months hasn’t been possible for a very long time, but now she is happy about every change of location again, as, for instance, the ATT in Ruhpolding. Anyway, until the world cup start Andrea should have no reason to complain about various changes of location…

	Two "golden" Henkels - © Peter Michaelis

· 1 week Turkey with the „Club of the Bests“

· 10 days Ramsau (and by this the first real training on snow)

· in November Scandinavia/Alps (originally Silver Star, Canada)

and then... starting shoot in Hochfilzen!

She is satisfied with the course of the training, the running times are all right, the shooting results during the ATT in Oberhof, which were pretty unusual for her, among other things had to do with the provisional shooting range… Andrea showed that she was quite right with that in the training and during the relay in Ruhpolding.
We already knew in Oberhof, that it must have something to do with the shooting range. ;-)

Andreas expectations and goals for the new season
This part of the conversation showed us that Andrea doesn’t rest on the laurels she already acquired in her young years. With gleaming eyes she told us that the final position in the upcoming world cup total score has to be better than the 13th place in any case. It should be a place among the first five again. Additionally some places on the podium shouldn’t be missing. Of same importance is the qualification for the world championships. Since Andrea is the reigning individual Olympic champion, she will be seeded for the individual competition anyway. However, Andrea has no objections to some more starts during the world championships.;-) And we have nothing to say against it as well!

At the world cup prelude in Hochfilzen at least half of the qualification for the world championships should be fulfilled, and if possible even the whole! Once among the first eight or twice among the best 15… the first reason for celebration should be found and the pressure of expectation should weight less on Andrea.
Just as we do, Andrea is looking forward to the world cup 2003 with great expectations.

	Andrea in Salt Lake City - © Andrea Henkel

The consequences of the Olympic victory
Every time we speak about the Olympic victory real magic comes over us again and again… Anyway, Andrea is still the same as before her “heroic run”, as the US press called it! Only now she completely realizes what this victory means, said Andrea, but without being able to put it into closer words.

Already shortly after the victory Andrea recognized what it means to be Olympic Champion… interviews, congratulations, inquiries by sponsors and heaps of fan mail! And still today it is said to coordinate several appointments, with which a manager is actively helping her (and her sister as well) now. She has much more appointments but less time to fulfill them, so she is only able to observe appointments that can be reconciled with the training schedule. Top performances during winter – as the years before – are just achievable with a good preparation.

At every “place of action” we from the fan club notice that Andrea is really popular. She enjoys the support and appreciation that is shown to her, and she is even a little bit proud of this as well. In general, Andrea told us – and her face was beaming with joy – she is pretty moved by the warmth people evince her… if strangers tell her, how they experienced HER victory at the Olympic games. Sometimes the narrators even have tears in their eyes – and that not rarely on the middle of the street! Well… Andrea should have seen us in front of our TVs… ;-)

Ups and downs in sports

	Andrea at the ATT 2002 - © Andrea Henkel Fanclub

“It is true that you recognize the pressure from outside, but you proverbially experience the pressure you put on yourself… The bigger is the own disappointment, if everything goes wrong.” Already in the run-up to the ATT Andrea noticeably lowered the expectations. On roller skis she is weaker than on snow and really skies… However, the performance in Oberhof was very disappointing for her as well. Like us, she was hoping to do better than expected, of course.

But how does Andrea handle such disappointments? “Try it again and again. You know that you are able to do better so think positive and don’t give up.” She knows the ups and downs as well as others do, and finally one comes out of such a low strengthened again. Her ambition makes her going on and on… to new high performances and out of lows as well. This ambition sometimes even has to be slowed down – to make up the delays with training would lead to “training yourself into minus points”.

“In defeats you just feel lonely. Then it is especially important to know that in spite of everything there are people who support you.”

The Media
Within interviews or presentations of competitions one often wonders “What do they want to tell us by that…” or “Queer questions they ask today again…”. Questions, being not especially witty, alternate with slips of the tongue like „Kati Henkel“ (well, then you can choose whom they mean ;-)) Now it was interesting to know, of course, what Andrea has to say about the writing, reporting and speaking guild…

She especially finds fault with “idle questions”... Even after repeatedly having been asked how it feels like to be Olympic champion, she couldn’t really answer this question because she simply couldn’t realize it after such a short time. She is also not that impressed, if answers, having been given before, are taken up again and again, as, for instance, her saying “I was so tiered this morning” (one of her first thoughts and answer on the victory in Salt Lake). A bit excited she then still said that one is not in demand in defeats anyway… even if one would have to say something especially in that situation.

On the other hand she argued that she by herself often gives answers, which are too short and less than expected. Anyway, this should be changed in the future. Well, Andrea is a person, who has to say and tell something, especially on questions with contents. ;-)
She didn’t give us short answers either… Was it us, the questions, or just her longer answers?

	Relay competition in SLC - © Andrea Henkel

Andrea about the fan club and her fans
Almost to the day of the interview day the fan club celebrated it’s first anniversary. For this reason we asked for a short résumé. We were prepared for all answers…

“It is great to have an own fan club, but I’m much more amazed at the fact that someone does that much and travels around all the time just because he/she is a fan of mine”, was Andrea’s first reaction to our carefully asked question. ;-) She enjoys seeing “her” placard in the stadiums and having confidence in our support. Last year, when she saw the placard for the first time in Hochfilzen, she “was even a bit nervous”. Looking for the placard is already automated (at least if she knows for sure that we should be there).

Bravely we asked further, what she is expecting from the fan club (… after all, one doesn’t know, which expectations one has to fulfill ;-)). Especially important to her is that we support her during lows as well. Anyway, she doesn’t doubt that anymore since the world cup in Oberhof (where she couldn’t participate because of a febrile bronchitis). Additionally she likes it very much that we spur on other athletes as well and not only fanatically cheer for her.

The contact with fans may not be as intensive as with friends, and it might be on another basis as well, but the contact is there, of course, especially with the fan club, and she really likes it the way it is. After all, not only a special success of her belongs to being a fan, but her personality counts as well. At least she stays in contract with fans.

Andreas friends and her journeys
She often has got itchy feet, in spite of being on tour in matters of biathlon for the most part of the year. The travel urge is not only limited to rare holiday. Well, it is not that easy for her to train in the same place for several months. This gets too monotonous pretty fast. Since her 14^th year of life she is used of traveling (competitions, training camps, etc.) The changes, brought along with the new environment therefore fit in very well with her ideas. Those journeys mean freedom, not being bound to a single place but knowing where she has her nest, and so she likes coming back and warming up at home as well. Meanwhile, her family and friends got used to the fact that she is away most of the time, so the pleasure of seeing each other again is huge.

Sometimes she visits her friends spontaneously to be able to see them at all. Anyway, it may happen that it takes half a year until one meets again...
However, especially her family and friends give her the opportunity to relax from sports – and just to be “Andrea”…

Her Character
The last question of this interview finally got a kind of “expedition”… We asked Andrea to characterize herself a bit!
Andrea describes herself as a person, who exactly knows what she wants; who is full of determination, thoroughly and ambitiously pursues her plans and aims in life. Some things she takes pretty seriously, sometimes even too serious. Therefore, it can sometimes happen that she is said to be a bit stubborn. She is a fighting person, who powerfully goes through life but who can be pretty vulnerable as well!
She is a natural person, who doesn’t hide her feelings and just is as she is. She likes laughing and often does it. In certain situations she first likes to observe the happenings and therefore, she sometimes seems to be bashful, withdrawn or even shy. Anyway, it takes some time until Andrea trusts another person.

	Andrea, Molly and Uwe Muessiggang - © Andrea Henkel

On the other hand she is a very sociable type of person, who likes staying with friends and with her family, so she often invites them at her home.. It is her disposition to plan and to organize (not only the evenings with family and friends). However, this should not be interpreted as perfectionism…

She doesn’t have to stand in the center of attraction all the time, so it is all right that she often hides her light under the well-known bushel, too. Anyway, she is much more happy in a smaller circle and there she is pretty released and open with everybody… the roguish look she often has on her face is put in use there properly. She is a very emotional and emphatic person, a real good comforter, but sometimes she needs to be consoled as well. She simply racks her brain too easily if things don’t work, as they should.
However, she is a type of person having many interests. Everything that is great fun – Andrea is about to do it. Nothing can be worse than being bored. She likes traveling and getting to know people, but there is nothing to be said against shopping tours as well. There is no lack of spontaneity and flexibility anyway. But a person who likes that much action and fun in life, enjoys the rarely quiet hours within her own four walls as well.

Our Résumé: One just has to be fond of Andrea!

We want to thank Andrea that she made so much time available for us and that she answered all of our – sometimes curious – questions patiently!

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