Premier League Star Valon Behrami’s Wife Lara Gut-Berhami Is Skiing Her Way To Be A Champion
For many, Lara Gut-Berhami is just the wife of a former player in the Premier League.
The 32-year-old married Valon Behrami, a former midfielder for West Ham and Fiorentina, in the summer of 2018.
She is, however, far more than Mrs. Berhami.
Speaking four languages well, Lara is a multi-talented alpine ski racer from Switzerland with an impressive trophy collection of numerous major medals.
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At the youthful age of FIFTY, she took part in her very first race at the FIS races back in December 2006.
In 2007, the then-teenager made appearances at the World Cup and the Alpine Youth World Championships, where she won silver in the downhill race.
2007 turned out to be a great year for Lara, as she became the second-youngest Swiss national champion in super-G history.
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Lara would not be able to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada due to a delayed hip recovery.
However, four years later, when she competed in the Russian Sochi Games, she realized her ambitions.
She won a bronze medal in the downhill at those Games, which marked her first Olympic medal.
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Lara would go on to win the super-G season title and finish third in the World Cup that year.
Lara won a bronze medal in the super-G at the 2017 World Championships, but in the combined race that followed, she horribly injured her ACL.
She made her comeback to competition in the 2019 World Championships, however she was a shadow of her former self after a protracted and difficult recuperation.
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But she won gold in the super-G and giant slalom competitions just two years later.
She would bring the winning formula to the Beijing Olympics in 2022, her second Olympics.
After winning the super-G event, she departed China with a gold medal, proving that the competition was the high point of her career.
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She expressed this after realizing her childhood dream: “I am really happy to have got that gold.
“But you can’t build your life around winning gold.
“I just thought it was probably going to be my last Olympic super-G of my life and I just wanted to show something great. I just wanted to ski.
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“I am happy that this time I am fast enough because last time for sure I was fourth and it was always tight.
“It’s not bad to have the hundredths by my side this time.”
Last Friday, Lara was competing in the World Cup downhill, expanding her lead in the competitive battle for the Crystal Globe with a win at Crans-Montana.