Jenny Rissveds stood on the podium again as a winner at the MTB World Cup in Lenzerheide on Sunday, August 11, 2019, the first time in three years. This borders on a miracle. The last time she celebrated her victory was also in Lenzerheide, but that was on July 10, 2016, ahead of Annika Langvad and Jolanda Neff. After that she disappeared from the World Cup for two years and now this victory. What a comeback!
On August 20, 2016, she became Olympic champion in MTB cross country, celebrating her greatest success. A month and a half earlier, she had already become U23 world champion. What a year. But something must have affected the young Swede, whether it was the bickering between her team Scott-Odlo and the Swedish federation - which helmet brand, which outfit and which sponsors she was allowed or not allowed to wear at the Olympics - or whether it was the immeasurable success and the huge worldwide media echo that the success triggered and with which Jenny first had to learn to deal. She fell into depression, withdrew and soon said goodbye to international mountain biking. In 2017 and 2018 Jenny was not to be seen at international races, a team was not in sight, but in 2019 she reported back, cautiously, because she wanted to compete again, but with her own team, where no one told her what to do and what not to do.
On May 26, 2019, she made it to a modest 33rd place in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, and one had to wonder if she could even make it without an international team. But on July 7, 2019, she put her first exclamation point on it with a 5th-place finish in Vallnord, Andorra. She had to be counted on again. After another top 10 finish, 9th place in Les Gets, France, she took her first real podium with third place in Vale di Sole, Italy, on August 4, 2019. And just a week after that, in a feat few would probably have guessed, she managed to repeat her World Cup win in Lenzerheide from three years ago, putting herself back on the MTB throne among the women's elite. This marks the end of an endlessly arduous and personally extremely stressful path for Jenny Rissveds, which began in the fall of 2016 and ended again with yesterday's victory. The comeback of the Swedish mountain bike princess has been a complete success and that certainly makes us all happy.
It's understandable that after all the suffering she was carrying around and the constant fear of failing, she broke down at the finish line and suffered a crying fit with all her suffering of the past 2-3 years flowing out of her, but in the end she stood beaming on the podium again and that's a real joy. With this victory Jenny writes a real mountain bike fairy tale! Jenny is back on top!
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