Interview with the young Pascal Kälin from Switzerland

Interview with the young Pascal Kälin from Switzerland

22/08/2013 19:17

Skijumpingitaly is happy to introduce to you our latest interview with the young promise from Switzelrand Pascal Kälin!

Hello ski-jumping fans! here we are again with our interviews.

As you already know we always liked to give space to everyone in order to make sure, that not just the present ski jumpers got their space but also the future ones.

This time we have decided to concentrate our energies on a “new face” for the Swiss ski-jumping team.

His best result so far was last season 7th place in Wisla (POL) to not forget his winning at the Canadian championship at the end of March in Whistler, British Columbia.

That is why we have decided it was time to know a little bit better of him, so it is with pleasure we would like to introduce to you Pascal Kälin, from Einsiedeln - Switzerland.

Pascal compete for SC Einsiedeln, he made his debut in the WC in Oslo 2013 reaching the 49th spot on his debut.

He has also won the the bronze medal at the Youth Olympic in Szczyrk (POL) in 2009.

Two times runner up at the Swiss national championships, second place in the team event on K105 and on the men competition back in 2011.

Skijumpingitaly: Hello Pascal thank you for joining us in this interview, how are you doing after the unexpected but very welcomed 6th place with the team in Wisla?

Pascal Kälin: I'm pretty well and really happy but unfortunately I got torn ligament in my right foot the next day, right before the single competition.

SJI: Is not very usual to see Switzerland to succeed like you guys did in Poland, especially in a team event. What have changed inside the Swiss team?

PK: I think it began two years ago when Marco was jumping the first times in the final round. Everybody of us knew that he can jump as well as Marco and so last year Gregor became better and better and the same for Killian and me. Now we have a competition that we can start in the Sommer Grand Prix serie for example and that's really good for us I think.

SJI: Last season and this current summer one of your team mate have impressed quite a lot producing very good results, are you looking forward to do as well as he’s been doing lately?

PK: Yes of course, I want to jump as good as he do, and better.

SJI: We have had a look at your personal records, your best result so far was the 7th place in the continental cup in Wisla the past winter, we presume that you really like the Adam Malysz hill, don’t you?

PK:Yes, you're right. I really like this hill!

SJI: What do you like the most about that hill?

PK:I like the most that I can do so much during the flight. If you're missing the table you're still able to fly far, especially with headwind.

SJI: Tell us about your victory at the canadian championships at the end of March in Whistler.

What was your feeling about competing on an Olympic hill, a hill which saw your team mate Simon Ammann winning two Gold medals, has this inspired you?

PK:Yes it was awesome to jump over there. The hills were perfectly prepaired and the hills are really great to jump. The two Gold medals... No as I was there I just wantet to have fun and a great final of the season. But after I won also two times, I thought that's pretty awesome, two Swiss who won two times there. Maybe there should be some more competition in Whistler.

SJI: Can you tell us what are your expectations for the rest of the summer and what are your

plans for the winter season? Do you expect to be involved more in the World Cup as well?

PK:My expectations for the rest of the summer: I hope to get healthy as fast as possible and I really hope that I will jump in Nizhny Tagil. Like you said, I want to jump more in the world cup and i still hope to get enough points that I will get the chance to be at the Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi. At the moment, it's a dream but I go for it!

SJI: Switzerland have always had two main figures in the recent years, Simon Ammann and Andreas Küttel. How is it for you, or any other young ski jumper, to be able to train with such an important figure as Simon Ammann? Are you learning a lot from him?

PK:To jump with Simon and Andreas was and is still awesome. They know that much about themselves and what they have to do right before the jumps, especially during the competitions and there I can learn a lot from them. And I think , it's really important to have athletes like them.

SJI: What is so far the most important thing you have learned in ski jumping?

PK:Never give up and go for your dreams!

SJI: What made you decide that you wanted to become a professional ski jumper? where your passion for ski jumping coming from?

PK:My passions came during my first jumps in 2006 and also a bit because the hill is close to my house. As I began I made progress really fast and so it came by itself that I wanted to do my passion as my job.

SJI: What is it your life while you are at the hills and what is like when you are off?

PK:While I'm at the hills, I like to speak and have fun with other athletes and trainers. And for sure, I'm totally in ski jumping.

My days off... I like to be socialized and doing other sports, that I can calm down and recharge my batteries.

SJI: I had a look at your web site and you seems to be a guy with many different interests, like football and volley. Did you practiced these sports before approaching to ski jumping?

PK:Yes I did many different sports like horse riding, playing tennis, playing football, athletics etc. And I still like to practice other sports.

SJI: What’s so far the most difficult thing you had to face in ski jumping?

PK:I had to make a break during 3 months because I had cancer, that was the hardest time for me.

SJI: Tell us a bit more about yourself what do you like to do.

PK:I like to go to the lake in summer and skiing in winter.

SJI: Your goal for the upcoming season is…. ?

PK:The winter Olympic games, it's a hard way to go but I go for it!

If you want to know more about Pascal and stay up to date with news about him, you can check on his website Pascal Kälin and Facebook page

Interview by Consuelo Conte.

Consuelo Conte [@KokkaMufc] You can follow us on our Facebook page as well as on Twitter! But since we know you also like taking a look at the various photos we started also an Instagram account, so don’t miss your chance to stay up to date with us!

On another note, we would like to remind to all the fans that from this summer and winter season we will have contests where you have the chance to win flyers signed by your favorite ski jumper, we started with #GregorSchlierenzauer#TomHilde#JernejDamjan and plenty more, so always keep an eye, you might be the next winner!