Feature: German gold mono-skier encouraging children to follow sporting dreams

BERLIN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Anna-Lena Forster always finds time to encourage young children to follow their sporting desires.

Despite training throughout the year, the 26-year-old is keen to engage in education.

On her webpage, she encourages children to discover new boundaries and gain confidence. "I am very busy with training and my job, but I always have time to encourage youngsters to do sport," Forster said.

More people will know the German mono-skier and be inspired by her stories after Forster won the super combined sitting event at the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing.

When she was nine, her parents, who were winter sports enthusiasts, took her to several workshops for skiing beginners. "I attended several of these training sessions and gradually got into it. I didn't fall in love at first sight, but things change," said the Paralympic champion.

It only took her two years to be spotted by German talent coaches. "They came and asked me if I was interested in joining the national talent youth team," she said after winning her third medal at Beijing 2022.

In the beginning, she didn't see the sport as a path to success, instead simply enjoying the positivity it brought. In Forster's view, sport serves as an intermediary to help people grow and gain confidence.

From her early age, sport played a vital role in her life and she managed to balance school and sports well, "I got free time from school for training and competition, as long as I follow the school topics closely."

Today she likes climbing, trampolining, swimming, and basketball.

The moment of Forster crossing the line with her arms raised high in Yanqing has impressed her fans. "I will never forget about my first gold in 2018, but this one today means so much for me, it's one of the most important medals of my career," she said.

In ecstasy, the German skier, who was once a psychology student, even forgot where her wheelchair was.

Before the competition, she had several talks with the team's sports psychiatrists who helped her stay calm and concentrated. "They told me to read the track and keep its challenging parts in mind. I managed to forget about the setbacks in previous competitions," she added.

Taking two silvers in downhill and super-G disappointed the skier, but gold in the super combined sitting motivated her to march on for the remaining events.