My first time: alpine skier Georg Kreiter

“The first races with were not bad but there is still a lot to do to get back to the world’s top position. It is exciting for me.”

Germany’s double alpine skiing world champion Georg Kreiter has lifted the lid on how he transformed from a beginner after a motorcycle accident to one of the world’s best men’s sit-skiers.

Kreiter, 30, had always been a sport fan prior to his accident in 2002.

“Before my accident I was skiing just a few times a year. My main sports were soccer in the summer and hockey in the winter but nothing as a competitive sport.”

When he was 17, he was travelling to a football game when he crashed his bike.

“I have no memory of what happened and woke up after six days in artificial coma,” Kreiter said. “After rehabilitation I started with wheelchair basketball, hand bike, table tennis and I finished my education as a media designer in our family print office.”

It was in 2006, during the Torino Winter Paralympic Games, when Kreiter saw para-alpine skiing and decided to embark on a training course with a fellow German athlete, Gerda Palmer, a sit skier.

“The first time I was sitting in a sit ski, it was difficult but it was also amazing,” he said. “I knew immediately that the sport would be my future. I went skiing as often as possible with my friends and family. I just felt free when I was skiing and there was no difference between me and the other ‘normal’ skiers.”

After taking a second course for advanced skiers in 2007-08, Kreiter became a member of the junior German Paralympic team and started with his first beginner races in 2008. It was thereafter he competed on the international stage.

“In February 2009, I went to my first Europa Cup in Sweden. I thought, even if I was not successful there, it was at that moment I decided to take on skiing as a competitive sport. Shortly afterwards I broke my clavicle during free skiing in a half-pipe.”

With a new sit ski in 2009-10 from German multiple world and Paralympic champion Martin Braxenthaler, Kreiter began to improve in his chosen sport. “I took my first podiums in IPCAS [IPC Alpine Skiing] races, the qualification for the World Cup races and became member of the German National Team in 2010,” he said.

Five years later Kreiter was crowned double champion at the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada, in the super combined and giant slalom.

To top it all off, Kreiter was named 2015 German Disabled Sportsman of the Year.

Looking forward to the rest of this season, Kreiter has made some changes in hope of more positive outcomes to follow after several podium finishes at Europa Cups.

“For the 2015-16 season I decided to change my sit ski to get more experience and hopefully an even better overall package for next year’s season.

“The first races with were not bad but there is still a lot to do to get back to the world’s top position. It is exciting for me.”

The next races will get underway in Espot, Spain, on Monday (8 February) with the latest IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cups in super combined.