Nadine Fähndrich finishes on the podium for the third time in Davos on Saturday and is relieved. Almost everything goes according to plan in the skating sprint - including team tactics.
15.12.2025, 05:01
15.12.2025, 07:29
SDA
Nadine Fähndrich is beaming all over her face in the spotlight. "It's brilliant to be on the podium at home," says the World Championship bronze medallist and exceptional Swiss skier. The peak of her form is of course planned for February, at the Olympic Games in Val di Fiemme, but it is still reassuring to be able to keep up with the best at the start of the season.
In Davos, Fähndrich is only beaten by the Swedish serial winner Jonna Sundling and the up-and-coming Norwegian Mathilde Myrvold, keeping two other Swedish World Championship and Olympic medal winners at bay in the final. In the semi-final, she was not fazed by a bump from Kristine Skistad, who was later disqualified.
Very nervous
After a solid 5th place in Ruka and the unexpected elimination in the quarter-finals in Trondheim, Fähndrich is relieved that she made it onto the podium before Christmas. "I was very nervous before the prologue," admits the 30-year-old from Lucerne. "I felt the pressure a little." She had foregone the team sprint, where she finished third with Anja Weber last year, and put everything on this sprint.
Fähndrich even provided valuable support. When Weber was faced with the decision as to which quarter-final heat she should enter, she asked her team-mate which heat would be the fastest. Fähndrich answers confidently: "Mine, of course." And yes, it would be okay for her if Weber chose the same heat. Fähndrich promptly picks up the pace, runs confidently to victory and "pulls" Weber into the semi-final as one of the lucky losers.
Fähndrich was completely satisfied on Saturday evening. She has no regrets about the victory she won in Davos three years ago. Sundling and Myhrvold are too superior. "The final was brutally tough and I was afraid right up to the finish line that Dahlqvist would come from behind." But now she has certainty that the build-up in form is going in the right direction. "I feel good, but I know that I can do more." The sprint specialist finished a solid 29th in the 10 km skating race on Sunday.
Caution at Christmas dinner
Now it's time to get through the two-week break until the Tour de Ski. Fähndrich will spend most of it at home in Knutwil and, due to the lack of snow at lower altitudes, will decide from day to day where to train. Realp in the canton of Uri or Goms in the Upper Valais are in the foreground.
She doesn't want to miss out on a Christmas dinner with her family. "I just hope that everyone will be honest and not come if they don't feel quite right," explains Fähndrich. "Or that I just don't go."
