Interview with Pauline Grabosch
TOUR: Mrs Grabosch, as we sit here with the recording device and camera poised, are you enjoying this part of your life, the publicity?
GRABOSCH: Yes, I do. I feel comfortable in front of the camera. As an athlete, I grew up with it. Some people might find it annoying. I see it as an opportunity to articulate or present myself. That's one of the challenges of being an athlete. I really enjoy working with the media.
So you are a person who likes to open up.
Yes, definitely. This year was also my first time in front of the camera as a commentator at the Champions League. Selling cycling better, opening it up to the outside world, that's one of my dreams. It's a goal for me and certainly for our track gold trio to give track cycling a face. That way we can make ourselves tangible as people. This includes public relations work: interviews, TV appearances, social media. I do all that alongside the sport. But of course, I'm an athlete with big goals first. And of course I don't push myself to the fore, but recognise the achievements of others.
Have you learnt how to use the media yourself?
I am looking for my own way. How do I want to appear to the outside world? What is really important to me? When I appear in public, it's not "fishing for compliments". I want to be perceived as a person, with authenticity, not just as an athlete. I ask why I do something, and that also applies to my sport. Let me put it this way: being an athlete is an important role. But in this world of sport, you can quickly lose the person inside you. The athlete in you grows and you forget a lot of other things. For me, it's a big goal to take the person Pauline Grabosch with me in the 2024 Olympic year and enjoy the process.
Can Pauline Grabosch do everything she would like to do? Or do parts of her personality still have to be parked because competitive sport plays such a big role?
Interesting question. Some things have to be parked. For example, time with family and friends, a constant private life. Maybe even hobbies that you would want to spend more time on. I would like to do something regularly every week in a group where I am Pauline and not the top sportswoman. Then you meet up with friends on Wednesday evenings to dance, I think that would be cool. Of course, I don't regret that things are different at the moment. There will only be time for some things later. But I've learnt that I have to take care of myself so that I can really rock the new season with the girls - for myself and for my team.
When you ask yourself why in your life as an athlete - what is your answer?
I can't give a simple answer, but I don't think many people think about it. I haven't done that for years either. You just do things. I want to change that, to do things more consciously. I always had a childhood dream and it still applies: I want to win Olympic gold. But I also wanted to be world champion, and that's what I am now. But the result alone is not enough for me. I've realised that, I want to enjoy the process of getting there. And I want to be a role model, like I wanted to be as a child, and later a cool mum, a cool grandma. I want to do something meaningful.
I always had a childhood dream and it still holds true: I want Olympic gold. - Pauline Grabosch
Pauline Grabosch's path to cycling
Your parents were also athletes. Was it a foregone conclusion that you would become a competitive athlete?
Definitely no. I started with ballet and piano. I went to an international grammar school and actually wanted to study in France or somewhere else abroad. I wanted to learn languages, maybe international management. Then I got into this sport by chance and stayed.
By chance?
I first tried athletics and then cycling, but I was too bad and too lumbering for the road. However, I always had a lot of strength and a coach at my home club who had the courage to try something different with me. After that, it was a lot of lucky coincidences. And I had the support of my parents. My mum once asked me if I wanted to become a world champion. When I said yes, we also organised my school education accordingly.
Do you benefit from your genetics in sport?
Basically, I always had an athletic physique and was powerful. You first have to learn not to judge that negatively. It's more difficult for women to digest, especially during puberty. The body changes and you hear people say: she looks different to other girls. You first have to establish a positive connection with your own body. You get this kind of feedback everywhere, even in sport. With us, everything is measurable. It's about times. If they're not right, you look for reasons. It can also be about physical constitution. My body is my asset and it takes a lot of trust when other people influence it in order to optimise it.
At 16, you beat a world record that Kristina Vogel had held for eight years. Was that a moment when you knew you were going to have a successful career?
That's a typical German attitude. Because you're never finished. Of course, I was often happy about junior world records. But that doesn't change anything. As a young sportswoman, you get shaken up in moments of success like that. People talk at you. It's overwhelming. But at best you learn something new. Success brings challenges and isn't just nice. There is a burden when you wear the rainbow on your jersey. Nobody prepares you for that. You stand there and wonder what to do with the success and the pressure. Can I ask you how you would describe success in one word?
Getting better.
Interesting. You can now see the motivation behind what you do. It's the same in sport. But we're also like artists, like TV celebrities. Many other people also expect something from us. Being world champion is an honour and a burden. You lose the title again, or the whole world expects you to win again. Only someone who has experienced it for themselves knows what it feels like, this pressure.
My body is my capital, and it takes a lot of trust when other people influence it to optimise it. - Pauline Grabosch
You are studying health psychology. Does the content of your degree programme also help you to deal with your own pressure and anxiety?
Yes and no. I am a very intellectual and emotional person. More knowledge means more thoughts, more doubts. But the fact is that I learn things during my studies that I can apply at some point. I'm sure that this knowledge will also help me move forward so that I can offer other people added value. But first I want to apply this added value, this knowledge of psychology, to myself as an athlete. I often notice that things I learnt a few semesters ago help me.
Cycling has long been considered closed to aspects of the psyche. Is this still being neglected?
I think we need to talk about this more openly. It's not about showing weakness, but about staying true to yourself. If I say something here, then it should also reflect my feelings. Otherwise I run the risk of no longer feeling myself and losing myself. That's why I think it's important to say: I find this question unpleasant. Or: I'm not feeling well right now. Showing humanity is super important.
You are part of a team that has broken world records here and won world titles there. But what does that mean, how close are you to each other?
I think in the past, riders just rode their laps and enjoyed each other's company. It's different with us. We've grown together for years now, even against each other. After all, we're also racing against each other, you can't forget that. It's not easy. Our great strength is that we've learnt to push each other in the right direction as a team, even when it gets uncomfortable. We spend a lot of time together, share rooms, have little privacy. We accept each other's opinions. It's almost relationship coaching. We don't have a nine-to-five job where we cook a lasagne in the evening and keep our distance. We have the same goals, but we can only achieve them together.
Are you friends, colleagues or what would you call your relationship?
I can't put it that simply. We respect each other as people and athletes. We don't need to know every personal secret about each other or drink tea together every evening. We've been world champions together four times in a row and we've never finished. We want to be Olympic champions next year. So we are very present. We are developing. We also bring the others back when they go in the wrong direction.
How much time do you spend together?
We train together here in Cottbus for six days every week. We know each other so well that we know exactly how to behave with whom in the room. There are different dynamics because different individuals come together.
You are an individual. Would it be important for you to win titles as an individual athlete, independent of this team?
I also wear the jersey as an individual. But I would be lying if I denied it: Of course I want medals as an individual athlete. But now I have to place myself with two of the world's best individual riders. Of course I'm fighting for every individual start. But I have one priority in 2024: that's my input into the team, into Team Germany at the Olympics. My lap in the team sprint is also an individual success. I've been world champion in the team sprint five times, each time with completely different dynamics on a different track.
Goals for Paris 2024
Can you outline what exactly you are aiming for at the Olympics?
The Olympics are always under a different star than the World Cup. Everyone wants more now. I think I speak for the girls when I say: We've already ridden really fast there in the velodrome and we want to be even faster. We want to look each other in the eye afterwards and say: We gave it our all. Whether it ends up being first place or second or eighth is not in our control. That's a bit of an expected answer, but that's the way it is. Of course we want to win. But it wouldn't be appropriate to say in advance that we will win.
You were a substitute at the 2021 Games in Tokyo, but didn't get to play. Was that a big disappointment that you want to overcome?
It hurt when I went there. But it was better afterwards. Today I can say that I have learnt a lot from this role. I had an important job for the German team, I was ready for action and tried to do my bit in the background. Today I'm sure that a substitute driver also plays a part in the team's success. And only in this position can you understand what it feels like to be there and to endure it. With distance and time, I have learnt a lot. It's a multifaceted thing: being there isn't everything. The girls delivered. I was proud and torn at the same time. But that's part of a career.
But not in 2024. What does the Olympics mean for an athlete who is allowed to take part?
Let me put it briefly: for eternity. You have the Olympics inside you. How many people have made it and can call themselves Olympians? It will be about medals there. But you've already made it there, you've gone your own way. Can I say something critical in the direction of sports reporters?
Go ahead!
Journalists should remove the word "only" from their vocabulary when talking to athletes. When someone comes third or sixth and then exposes themselves in front of the microphone and then hears this "only". That is inappropriate. It disregards what the person has achieved. As an athlete, you're allowed to be proud and enjoy the moment. It's not "just" a place, it's a lifetime achievement.
How much are you looking forward to Paris?
I'm determined to enjoy every moment there. With every emotion that goes with it, and also the fears. The Olympic Games are a unique sporting experience for everyone who is there. You can't let negative things cast the magic and enchantment in the wrong light.
I am determined to savour every moment in Paris. With every emotion that goes with it, and also with the fears. - Pauline Grabosch
About Pauline Grabosch
Pauline Grabosch was born on 14 January 1998 in Magdeburg and lives in Cottbus. The track specialist went to the elite sports school in Kaiserslautern at the age of 16 and then to Erfurt. She won her first title as German champion in 2014 in the youth (sprint). In the juniors, she won three individual world championship titles and gold in the team sprint with Emma Hinze. She won her first elite world championship title in 2018 together with Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte in the team sprint. This was followed by a further four world championship victories in this discipline, together with Lea Sophie Friedrich and Emma Hinze. Grabosch is a member of the Bundeswehr's sports promotion company and is in a relationship with Australian track sprinter Matthew Richardson.
