Lots of willingness to help

“I’m lost for words with so much support”

Anna-Lena Voplakal is delighted with the support she has received over the last few days.(Bild: Privat)

Ten days ago, the "Krone" first reported on Anna-Lena Voplakal's dream of making the leap into the ÖSV junior ski cross squad. The Vorarlberg native had launched a fundraising campaign for this, which stalled for a while but picked up speed again after the "Krone" story.

"I'm a bit lost for words," Anna-Lena Voplakal could hardly believe her luck when her fundraising campaign on www.ibelieveinyou.at came to an end in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday - successfully! Her 47 supporters exceeded the target of 4,500 euros by 31 euros - plus an extra 1,000 euros pledged by a loyal partner of the Vorarlberg Ski Association's GOING FOR GOLD campaign.

Anna-Lena Voplakal is looking forward to getting back on the snow soon.(Bild: Privat)

"At times, I had really big doubts as to whether it would work out," says the 19-year-old, who wants to use the money to cover some of the costs - more than 12,000 euros in total - that she will incur if she wants to train with the ÖSV junior ski cross squad on her own account. "After the project got off to a good start, there wasn't much going on for a while. I almost gave up," reveals the Dornbirn native, who ended her alpine career after a serious knee injury, but discovered her love for ski cross last winter and made it to the small final twice in her first four races on the Reiteralm.

"Krone" story pushed
However, after the "Krone" and "krone.at" reported on the sports high school graduate's project on July 21, the campaign really took off again. "The fact that it has now worked out helps me immensely, as I can now concentrate a bit more on training," says Anna-Lena, who is currently also working at the Schwarzenberg swimming pool to improve her budget for the winter.

The SV Dornbirn athlete has her first appointment with the ÖSV team from August 23-25. Group coach Matteo Fleischmann invites her to a conditioning course on the Reiteralm. "And in September, the first training on snow awaits," beams Voplakal, who wants to be a permanent member of the ÖSV C squad after the new season.