Like Riding a Rollercoaster

Kristina Vogel is an Olympic and World Champion in track cycling. After a severe fall, the life, relationship, and dreams of the exceptional athlete suddenly changed. This is her story. Like Riding a Rollercoaster

Kristina Vogel lays in a hospital bed, staring at her bare legs. They felt heavy and motionless, as if they were no longer part of her body: “Not being able to feel them anymore was very strange. I wished I could just have them cut off, that was how bad it felt.” This was the first time in a while that the top athlete consciously engaged with her body. The first few weeks after the accident were all about struggling to survive. Kristina has always been ambitious and meticulous, even as a young girl. She was identified as an outstanding sporting talent at an early age. Every spare minute was spent on the cycling track. “Track cycling was my passion and my love. It is like riding a rollercoaster and playing chess at the same time. It requires courage and perfect technique to race at 70kmh.”

At 17, Kristina joined the sports development programme as part of her police training, a decision that marked the beginning of her illustrious career as a professional cyclist. In the years that followed, she won two Olympic gold medals and was crowned World Champion eleven times. The press rightfully celebrated her as an exceptional athlete. “I had reached the pinnacle, and the pressure was enormous. That is why I always took training routines so seriously.” It therefore comes as no surprise that she was pushing herself to the maximum during training on the 26th of June 2018. “The others were ready to call it a

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When she awoke from induced deep sleep, only one question was on her mind: “Am I paralysed?”

1. Setting a new record at the Six Days of Berlin. 2. The dream of every athlete: Gold at the Olympics. 3. Kristina attending the gala for the Thuringian Athlete of the Year 2017.

2 day, but I was desperate to do one more session,” the now 30-yearold recalls. She launched herself into another team sprint. While in the slipstream of a colleague, she prepared herself for her turn to take the lead. Adrenaline flooded her body.

This was the moment things went horribly wrong. In a split second, she collided with another rider at top speed and fell violently. “I remember trying to breathe calmly as I was lying on the floor, badly injured. I could not move and I immediately realised that something really bad had happened to me.” Kristina watched helplessly as first responders attended to her. When she saw someone carrying her shoes away, she became aware that she could no longer feel her legs.

A DIFFICULT PATH The athlete was airlifted by helicopter to a trauma hospital in Berlin where she underwent

emergency surgery. Her injuries were severe. The list included a shattered sternum and a spinal cord injury at the level of the 7th thoracic vertebra. When she awoke from induced deep sleep, only one question was on her mind: “Am I paralysed?” Her long-time partner Michael and the attending chief physician were forced to confirm her worst fears. “I still remember a small tear rolling down my cheek at that point.”

Kristina’s survival was at stake during the first few weeks, meaning it took quite a while until she was capable of actually facing her spinal cord injury. “There was a moment when Michael placed his hand on my thigh and stroked me.

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4. & 5. Life partner Michael is Kristina’s “strong shoulder to lean on when needed”. 6. An emotional moment: Kristina is named Cyclist of the Year 2018. 7. Full of anticipation for the Olympic year 2016. 8. A strong woman: Kristina during the Red Bulletin Magazine cover shoot.

I was so angry. I simply could not understand why he was touching a part of my body I could not feel anymore.” This was the beginning of a difficult path for the top athlete. She had to sit in a wheelchair for the first time and learn how to use it. She had to find a way to move despite what she calls her heavy and irritating legs. She taught herself how to transfer from her bed into the wheelchair, how to shower alone. “I have never been a patient person, and suddenly even the smallest tasks took forever. I completely lost it at times,” she admits. Nevertheless, Kristina refused to give up and regained independence step by step.

Quite a few things needed to be adapted when she returned home. A lift needed to be installed, for example. “Michael was such a great help in so many ways.” When you hear Kristina talk, it becomes clear that the former sprint cyclist is her rock. Does it feel like this burden has also been placed on him? “Yes,” she answers. “It was particularly difficult in the beginning. Nothing was as it had been planned. I would have fully understood if he had decided to leave.” Michael stayed. He simply ignores the wheelchair now. “He always tells me that I am still the same person, just a bit shorter,” she smiles.

THINGS NOBODY SPEAKS ABOUT When Kristina attended her first sports gala in a wheelchair, she did so wearing a stunning white dress and golden hair accessories. Michael was, as always, by her side. The journalists literally pounced on her, everyone wanted to know how she was feeling. “I made sure that I came across as strong and defiant. However, that does not change the fact that I had to access this and many other events through the back door, simply because the venues in question were not barrier-free,” she frowns. She is not afraid of sharing more personal matters either: “There are some aspects nobody is willing to talk about. Now I know what it feels like to attend a TV show in diapers, to be constantly scared that one’s incontinence could somehow be revealed in public.”

These are highly sensitive issues that affect many spinal

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7 cord injury patients. “I am still learning how to deal with it all.” It is important to Kristina to address such issues openly, to draw attention to shortcomings. This explains why she entered the political arena. “Discrimination is a major topic, and rightly so. It does not stop at skin colour, sexual orientation, or disabilities – it rears its ugly head everywhere and is omnipresent… even when a healthy person has parked in a spot reserved for the handicapped.”

Some part of her has nevertheless made peace with her new situation. “I have achieved everything in sports, and I do not feel like I missed out on anything. I always wanted to retire undefeated, which I kind of did,” she smiles as her dark humour breaks through. “Life is beautiful, and I still have plenty of joie de vivre in me. I know that some people suffer more than I do, and they cope too.”

Kristina has some exciting projects lined up for the future, including her own show, in which she introduces other athletes, and pundit jobs during sports broadcasts. She also dreams of starting a family of her own someday. “I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved over the past few years. It has been a long, difficult path from not being able to turn around in my bed without help to where I am now. It feels a bit like competing again, and I am still in the thick of it…”

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“It feels a bit like competing again, and I am still in the thick of it…”

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