Over the past few seasons Andre Myhrer has been a constant name on the top of the slalom rankings, winning the slalom title in 2012, standing on the podium 18 times, of which five on the top step and winning bronze at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Going into Sochi, Myhrer was certainly one of the favorites for a spot on the podium but a knee injury suffered a few days before heading to Russia messed up his plans. Despite the pain, he decided to give his third Olympics a shot and started the slalom but he was unable to finish the second run and decided to cut his season short and focus on getting his knee back in shape.

Months later and with a new skibrand, Myhrer is ready to be back at the top next season and we had a chat with him between summer trainings.

It has been a rough end of the season for you last year, how hard was it to accept things not going as planned?

It´s never fun to be forced to stand on the sideline and watch the race when all you want is to be in it, racing for the victory. But it could have been much worse, in the end I didn´t have to go through a surgery and was just focusing on making a good rehab in order to come back even stronger. To get injured only 10 days before the most important race, the one you get a chance at only every 4 years, that was the hardest part.

Are you satisfied with how your rehab has been going and are you back 100% now?

Rehab has been good and I feel ok now, I feel as if I´m back where I want to be.

You recently changed skibrands and went from Nordica to Head, what made you take such decision?

I´ve been with Nordica for the past 14 years, I´ve tested other equipment in the past but always stayed with Nordica. This spring my contract with them ended and I was looking for something else to try but wasn´t sure if my knee would hold up for a good ski test. Nordica was also struggling with the current economy and in the end I felt that maybe a change would be good for me.

How do you think the change will benefit your skiing?

I needed a new challenge and with Head I have a company that supports me 100% as they are in need of a slalom skier. The first tests have been very good and I look forward to start skiing again after the summer break and to keep working on finding the material that suits me best.

Slalom has been your main focus over the years but you have also been able to crack the top 10 in GS a few times, is consistency in a second discipline a focus for the future or are you content sticking mainly to slalom?

I will keep on fighting in giant slalom and with Head I will also get a great GS ski so that is going to be very interesting.

Seems like your last two summers have been very family oriented, last year you had a daughter and you recently got married. How important is having a dose of normality in the off-season?

It´s very important to me to get a break from skiing in the summer, to unwind and to charge my batteries for the demanding season ahead.

What are your plans for the summer and what are you looking forward to the most for next season?

I haven´t got that many plans actually. I am mainly trying to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends while trying to relax between training sessions.

Source: the official FIS site