“We hated each other”: Sparks once flew between skating stars Rust and Millard

The Swiss managed to impress in the slalom race in Jasna, Slovakia. Above all, Camille Rust and Melanie Millard are happy with each other's successes. But this was not always the case.

The Swiss women in Jasna temporarily forgot the absence of slalom specialist Wendy Holdener on Sunday due to injury. On the Slovakian track, Camille Rast, Melanie Millard and Michelle Gisin raced to fourth, fifth and sixth places.

“I'm happy to have this fifth place with me,” Millard says.Scenery». “It's important to have a better starting number. But also so that I know in my mind that it will work out. I came from a very far place, and the journey was not easy. Now I am very happy.”

Rust: “Now I only have to drive this way twice.”

Camille Rast also talks about the higher position. The 24-year-old is nine hundredths away from the podium. Fourth place gives her courage: “Now I only have to drive that way twice,” Rust said.

Camille Rast and Melanie Millard are keeping their fingers crossed for each other. “Melanie and I push each other in training. Sometimes you're faster, sometimes I'm faster – and that's great,” says Rust. “It's nice to have a friend in the skating circus who you can talk to about everything – and we laugh a lot, too,” says Millard. .

Hatred turned into friendship

The friendship between Rust and Millard was preceded by enmity. “We hated each other,” Millard admits. At the age of eight and nine, people would sometimes get jealous when the other person won. Camille Rust adds: “There wasn't a lot of love between us at first. But that was a long time ago, we've been friends for a long time.”

Friends rock the World Cup together. For women's head coach Pete Schorr, it's clear: “We miss Wendy. At the same time, the tension was starting to set in, as Melanie and Camille accepted the situation. They knew they had to give what they wanted, and that's exactly what they're doing.”

The next slalom is scheduled for February 11. After taking pole positions in Jasna, Millard and Rast should start in Soldeu, Andorra with a lot of self-confidence.