Beijing Express 2022, Alex Schwazer: “I learned and look forward”

Alex Schwazer’s days are marked by a very precise rhythm that admits very few exceptions: wake up at half past five, breakfast, passage to Ida – the eldest of her children – to accompany her to kindergarten, training of her athletes, return home , dinner at half past six and light off at nine. This is why we participate in Beijing Express and breaking such a precise routine was anything but obvious. “My wife Katrin and I always decide things together: we thought about it and we thought it was fine”, reveals Alex on the phone two days after his elimination from the program produced by Banijay Italia and broadcast by Sky, when he and his adventure partner Bruno Fabbri they were forced to abandon the race at the second stage by decision of the Italy-Brazil couple, who chose to send them back home.

“Personally, I was not disappointed. I agreed to be a part of Beijing Express to make a new experience: I lived it as an adventure and not as a race. We could lose in the first stage or win: anything was possible. But, honestly, I didn’t have many expectations “, explains Alex Schwazer in a calm and controlled tone, very close to that irrepressibility that for six years has led him to wage a long legal battle to prove his innocence before the accusation of doping fall on his head in January 2016. An accusation that led him to a disqualification that will end in 2024 despite the judge, in 2021, the filing of the case “For not having committed the deed“. Meanwhile, on March 17, 2022, another victory arrives: Alex Schwazer was, in fact, acquitted of defamation charges for having indicated the director Fidal as well as a member of the anti-doping medical commission of the International Federation of Athletics Giuseppe Fischetto as the head of a conspiracy aimed at damaging him.

Let’s start with this further victory, what do you say?
“Fortunately, many things get better over time. It is a much longer path than Beijing Express, but we are continuing. We are finalizing the appeal before the European Court of Human Rights and we will go to the end, even if we are talking about years as a timing. It’s such a big and important thing that you don’t give up ».

Where does the push come from?
«You have to find it at the beginning, when you decide whether to take the path or not. I have had so many moments in court where I thought that the other side was 100 times more powerful than me and that I would never win, but go ahead because you told yourself. Surrounded by the many people who are there with you, from the lawyer to the coach ».

The relationship with your discipline today?
«I am a coach, I am no longer thinking about how to prepare myself, but about training others. I still feel her passion strong, especially if I think of the satisfaction I feel when I see my athlete improving. The basics are the same as before, only the perspective has changed. Pima I was an athlete and now a technician ».

Is it difficult not to see yourself as an athlete anymore?
“When you know that you will not be able to do the Olympics, you are realistic enough to say” I concentrate 100% to train others “. I have learned to look forward and not to the past. Of course you feel bad at particular moments, but then you think about the near future “.

The image remains etched in everyone’s memory – transmitted even at the beginning of Beijing Express – of her tears during the press conference. What do you feel about them?
“For the mistakes I made, I have paid a very high price, and I feel I have no debt to anyone. I try to evaluate my path as a sportsman at a complete level, because sport has given me much more than it has taken away from me. Those who see an ugly image must also think of the many beautiful images that have been there. I am very satisfied with what I have managed to do as an athlete ».