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Mélanie Meillard was still a child when she and her class first visited the Pyramides d’Euseigne. For her it was a game at home, as her parents’ house is less than two kilometers in a straight line from the Eringertal natural monument. “I saw the pyramids from the garden and I always found them beautiful,” says Meillard.
Today, the Valais woman with Neuchâtel roots is back at the foot of the 15 meter high earthen towers; She is no longer a girl, but a 22-year-old young adult. And Meillard says, “I’ve become more thoughtful.”
The fall video is on the phone.
What happened? The technician is still considered one of the most talented skiers in the world. But after nearly two years without a World Cup point and in too much pain, the ski prodigy’s paint is crumbling. “I still laugh a lot. But my injuries also made me think ”, he admits. In fact: Since the fatal cruciate ligament tore in February 2018, Meillard has been through a valley of tears. An injury, an operation later, that’s part of the business, he thought. He still has the video of his fall on his cell phone today. “I’ve looked at it about ten times,” Meillard says.
But his nightmare only started in rehab. The knee came off a dead man’s implanted ligament. “I didn’t have a pain-free day,” Meillard says. The next operation followed, this time with the body’s own material. Everything went well, but Meillard did not start, he got fat. Last winter’s comeback (4 races, 0 points) was a complete failure. Then he got hurt while walking. This time it was the ankle. The next mandatory break. “Something always happened,” he looks back.
“Not too far from Wendy and Michelle”
Now the nightmare is finally over. At least that’s what Meillard hopes. “I drive better every day and in slalom I’m not that far behind Wendy and Michelle,” he reports. At the same time, she knows exactly: keep up with Holdener and Gisin in a race, no, that will not be possible. “I’m missing the summer training kilometers, but I’m not scared anymore. That’s worth a lot. “
Meillard has fond memories of Levi. “I love the slope,” he says. She finished sixth in 2016 and fifth in 2017. So she was a teenager. Today she bakes small buns: “I just want to ski well. It would be nice to get to race two. “In the past, one would have laughed at such a statement in Meillard’s class. Today it is understandable.
