Jasmine Flury

They stand at the starting line. When the skiers in this supreme discipline plunge into the deep, the goal is clear. Pick up the pace, stick to their ideal line and make as few mistakes as possible. No hesitation. No doubt. Hold the line, even as muscles burn. In the women’s Ski World Cup, a number of descents lead through steep passages where the athletes accelerate to over 130 kilometres per hour a few seconds after the start. Passing striking rock formations – such as those in the Tofana-Schuss in Cortina d’Ampezzo. To jumps spanning over 40 metres. Pushing bodies and equipment to their limit. What sounds to most people like a test of nerve is just part of Davos-Monstein native Jasmine Flury’s job description. ‘A voice in my head quickly convinced me “yes, I can do this”. But it took a long time until it became the deepest conviction,’ says the downhill world champion and ski ambassador for Destination Davos Klosters.

For Flury, the path to the top has been paved with difficulty. In the 2016 season, a hip injury ruled her out of every single race. Even the triumphs have their dark side. ‘After my first World Cup win in St. Moritz in 2017, I put myself under pressure. It almost broke me; I wore myself down,’ says Flury. She felt she had to confirm this success and prove herself. ‘I definitely learned a lot from it,’ she adds.

At the top of the world, victory can sometimes be decided in a blink of an eye. At the same time, it is an equation with many unknowns as to where the hundredths of a second of success come from - or where they are missing. Whether the good or the difficult moments of her career: it all began in the Rinerhorn ski area in the Davos Klosters destination. At the age of three, Jasmine Flury stood on skis for the first time. She cannot remember this moment herself. But from stories told by her two older sisters, whom she emulated on the ski slopes, Flury knows that she was immediately hooked. Her first race at the age of three also pales in comparison. "Daddy, where do I have to stop - in the restaurant or at the valley station?" she asked at the start.

Flury grew up a stone’s throw from Rinerhorn, in the little village of Monstein with a population of just 200. She spent her childhood on a farm, with all that entails: dairy cows, chickens and Alpine pigs. Monstein is a Walser village – a little gem with wooden houses. Today, her father and his partner run the restaurant ‘Veltlinerstübli’, which the Flury family has owned since the 19th century. Everyone knows everyone else – of course. It’s no secret that Flury grew up with her two sisters, her two stepbrothers and her half-brother.

‘Having another professional athlete in the family, Jason (Rüesch, a cross-country skier, editor’s note) definitely influenced me, although I never wanted to do cross-country skiing. I’m pleased I can ski downhill and don’t need to climb the mountain (laughing).’ Both travelled to the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022. Of course, they’re in regular contact – during a ski tour in Davos Klosters, for instance. From an athletic perspective, this is just basic training for Jason, but interval training for her, as Jasmine explains.

The path to the top of the world of sport takes time. It was in February 2023 at the Ski World Championships in Méribel, France, that everything took off. Shortly before, Jasmine made a few changes: she switched up her equipment and took a new approach to mental training. She also spent the summer before the Ski World Cup at home rather than overseas. ‘I worked hard not to get mentally stuck on the one turn that didn’t work,’ says Flury. With great success: she’s the first ever World Cup winner from Grisons, and the first gold medal winner from the canton in the downhill category. She shares this moment with her best friend Corinne Suter, who won bronze in Méribel. Her next big sporting goal is the Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan 2026, as she reveals in the brief interview below. Then it’s time to tackle the Tofana-Schuss, one of her favourite courses, at 130 kilometres per hour. The skis will scrape over the icy spots, which means it’s that time again – she mustn’t put a foot wrong. Holding the line and pushing to the limit – without hesitation or fear.