Emotional triumph: Who led the Aigner family to double gold

They were turbulent days for Veronika Aigner. Shortly before the Paralympics Sister and guide Elisabeth (27) had to cancel due to injury and the arduous search for a replacement began. “I called around a lot,” says the 23-year-old: “It was very hard on the psyche.” Finally the choice was made Lilly Sammer. 16 years young and actually a guide for Michael Scharnagl.

The youngest member of the Austrian team mastered the task with flying colors and the ragtag duo secured gold in the downhill. The cheering was correspondingly great.

Shortly afterwards, brother Johannes Aigner followed suit and also drove to downhill gold with guide Nico Haberl. As in Beijing, the 20-year-old is aiming for five medals in five competitions.

Victory for the sister

What was almost expected for Johannes Aigner was not a given for Veronika due to the circumstances. A huge burden fell off her and Sammer’s shoulders. “We can go to sleep with peace of mind today because that wasn’t the case last night,” says Aigner. “We lay in bed with a heart rate of 130.” However, they “had a feeling from the start that this was a run for us.” She then dedicated the success to her injured sister Elisabeth: “So that I could show her where she took me.”

The two sisters have been driving together since 2017 and the relationship is a very special one. The failure and the spontaneous change were all the more bitter. The guide plays a central role for the visually impaired skiers (Aigner only has eight percent vision). On and off the track. During the race, the guide and driver are connected to each other via a radio headset, and commands are always given right from the start. “Left, right, hop, hop. Vertical, hairpin, long swing, wave.”

Dangerous silence

Every obstacle, every passage is passed on to the athletes who are riding a few meters behind the guide. In return, a “Now” comes back at each goal so that the guide can estimate how big the distance is between the two. The distance must be neither too large nor too small. “Silence in the race actually just means that something happened.”

The Aigners and their guides have trained this interaction for a long time. However, there is no specific timetable for how long it takes to build up full trust, says Johannes: “It depends more on the situation. You notice that when you ride freely together for the first time.” For Veronika, “humor and calmness are really important” when it comes to guiding, she says. To do this, you have to understand your counterpart well: “It’s no use if you stop talking to each other in the elevator or come into the room and stop talking to each other.”

That was the case with Lilly Sammer, even if she was naturally very nervous. After all, the 16-year-old completed the very first downhill run of her career in Cortina. “My legs were shaking extremely during the first training session,” she admits. Aigner gave her the rest she needed during these days. A new role for her too; Sister Elisabeth normally took on this part.

According to Veronika, it is important to “discuss every little thing with each other about what we can do better on the slopes.” And Sammer also had one advantage over her big sister: her height. “Lily is small and compact. To me she looks like she’s squatting all the time,” explains Veronika Aigner. which then tends to assume this position and is therefore faster.

The Aigner siblings have their next chance to win a medal on Monday. Then the Super-G is on the program. “We definitely won’t slow down,” promises Aigner.