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Camille Balanche (30) has to laugh. “No, I haven’t slept much,” he says. It is the morning after his great triumph on the mud track in Leogang (Austria). The downhill world champion is still upset. “What happened is crazy,” says the powerful woman from Le Locle (NE). She is right.
But one after another. Balanche’s life and his national teammate Emilie Siegenthaler (34) injured their knee during pre-race training. A shock. “They will do an MRI soon. But it doesn’t look good, it’s probably a cruciate ligament tear, ”says Balanche. She also falls several times, but remains unscathed. And it starts at 2 degrees and sleet for the World Championship race. As an outsider. “I don’t let myself get stressed,” Balanche tells himself. At the finish area, girlfriend Siegenthaler looks spellbound. “She was there for me, although not at first as expected. The thought still helped me, ”says Balanche. Unlike many others, it does not end in mud, but on the highest pedestal. After EM-Gold 2019, now World Cup Gold 2020. Balanche: “I don’t even realize it yet.”
Balanche was also a leader in hockey
In fact, Balanche’s path to the top of the descent is full of twists and turns. As a child, “Cam” rode at the ski club, as a junior she became a two-time Swiss champion in fencing. Balanche then switched to track and field before traveling to Vancouver (Ka) for the 2010 Olympics with the women’s hockey team. Shortly after, he hangs up his skates and plays volleyball in the Second Division. “A lot of colleagues told me, ‘This is crazy.’ But I really enjoy sports!” A few years ago, Balanche switched to mountain biking, with resounding success. “Now I’m going to stick with that for a while,” he said.
Balanche will not take off after his World Cup flight. “Even now I won’t get rich,” he acknowledges. The market and public interest in your sport are too small for that. Because the off-roader worked as a fitness trainer and climbing instructor, the budget ran out in recent years. One thing is for sure: even as a world champion, Balanche will spend many hours cleaning, greasing and bolting her little bike cellar in Biel BE. “I enjoy it too,” he says. How could it be different?
