I followed my friend's advice - I "predicted" my future - NRK Sport - Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– I never really let go, and I don't regret it now.

It is no miracle or coincidence that Timon Hogan finally succeeded in the giant slalom. An important piece of advice from a friend and old acquaintance became important components on the road.

But it wasn't a given that it would work.

About a year ago, the 27-year-old was at an all-time low.

-I felt like a failure

Because when the NM team finished at Trysil and all the team members went home, Haugan had to be left alone. To lead the Danish Championship.

– There I felt like I was at rock bottom. “I felt like a failure in some way,” Hogan says. To NRK.

Because even if the drive worked in the slalom, he was far from the top in the giant slalom. A topic that he struggled with for many years and thought many times that it would not work.

– “I was the only one on the team who had to stay so I could get a better rating for the following year,” he says.

Before this season, he had only scored points in one of 19 World Cup giant slalom races.

Then he decided. “This will never happen again.”

-He always had faith

Because Hogan didn't want to give up. He called his old coach Hallgeir Vognhild, who had him at the Oppdal skating rink.

– I called him and told him exactly what I knew. I said I felt like a real failure. Although many may not see it that way, says the 27-year-old.

They sat down and made a plan for the following Easter. To see what he had to improve on and what he needed to do to manage it.

– He's one of the few people who always said I should never give up giant slalom. He always thought I had something to do there. He always had faith. “I probably had more faith than I ever had,” Hogan says.

This is how the Easter holiday was planned. Before the lift opened at Opdal, they were on the hill training for three days of giant slalom together.

But this was not the only step he took.

Listen to your boyfriend

At about the same time, he picked up a pen and began writing his memoirs.

– I started with it about a year ago, and it helps me get ideas out of my head. “I feel like I get a little bit out of it when I put it down on paper, so that's a good tool to look back on,” the 27-year-old says.

The new tool came after advice from someone close to him.

– It was actually my friend who recommended that I do it. I did that for a little while, and then I thought “Why not?” says the 27-year-old.

– Do we owe her a little thanks, then?

– yes I do. I am very grateful.

And he's probably very happy about that now. That's why he wrote two weeks before he secured his first podium place in the giant slalom:

– Yes, I wrote that I felt I had the pace to get on the podium. I never thought this would happen now, but I felt like now I could see for myself one day or another that I could “Pallet” In giant slalom, and I never felt that way until recently, actually, says Hogan.

New chapter

This season is a completely different story for Hogan. The goal for this season was to finish in the top 30 in the giant slalom. Now he is No. 19 in the Giant Slalom Cup, and his hard work has culminated in a podium finish in the USA.

The job he was so happy with had finally paid off.

– I probably worked hard at it for many years, without getting paid well for it. “So I'm very happy about that,” Hogan says.