Kathrin Stirnemann: Goal podium place

In recent years, Kathrin Stirnemann has impressively shown what she is capable of with top finishes, especially in the Cross Country Eliminator (XCE) discipline. Since 2012, she has been racing in the elite category and is striving for medal places there as well. We asked her about the upcoming season shortly before her first race.

by Bruno Fleckenstein

Kathrin Stirnemann is a young Swiss woman who is constantly striving for a successful career as a mountain bike rider in cross country and especially in the discipline of Cross Country Eliminator (XCE) and is closing in on the world elite from year to year. The results so far are encouraging for the future.

Already in 2007, at the age of 18, she became Junior Swiss Champion and Junior European Champion, thus unanimously proving her talent and high title ambitions. Two years later she conquered - now in the U23 category - the title of Vice Swiss Champion U23. In 2010, she defended the runner-up title and also became European U23 vice champion. Since last year, she has been racing in the elite category and earned her first podium finish in the Eliminator discipline with a third-place finish in the World Cup race in La Bresse, France. The Eliminator discipline seems to suit her very well, as she also finished 5th in the Eliminator discipline at the World Championships in Saalfelden, coming within reach of the medals, whereas she had to settle for 26th place in the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) discipline. She also underlined her strength in the Cross Country Eliminator in last year's World Cup with several placements in the top ranks. With this performance she confirms her own drive for success and the will to make it to the top.
In sporting terms, she has the support of her own family, as her own father, Beat Stirnemann, is her coach. He is no stranger to the sport, having been the national coach of the Swiss mountain bikers from 2009 to 2012 and led the team to the London Olympics last year. And her brother Matthias is also active in the same sport in the BMC Mountain Bike Racing team.

Now she left on Thursday, February 28, 2013, as a rider of the "Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team" to Cyprus, where she competed in her first race at the "Cyprus Sunshine Cup". According to her statement, she has recovered from the pulmonary embolism last October. After a training camp in Gran Canaria she returned home 3 weeks ago. The subsequent performance tests in Magglingen on February 21-22, 2013 yielded surprisingly positive results. She is therefore confident about the upcoming season.

We asked her a few questions shortly before her departure for the start of the season:

Are you really back in top shape for the 2013 season?
I have recovered very well from the pulmonary embolism and was able to prepare myself optimally for the new season during the time in the top sport RS in Magglingen. My feeling is good and whether I will be able to fully implement the performance in the races again remains to be seen....

You can find the full article here:

[frame src="http://sportguide.ch/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Sportguide_Cover_Bike_Feb13-df.jpg" link="http://issuu.com/rfmedia/docs/sportguide_bike01-2013″ target="_blank" width="210″ height="280″ alt="Premium Wordpress Themes" align="left" prettyphoto="false"]

You can find your personal homepage here:
Link Kathrin Stirnemann

You can find more athlete links here/here