Last year at the Latvian MXGP qualifying race, Thomas Kjer Olsen took a big crash and as a result was left seriously injured. The Dane was placed in a medically induced coma by doctors due to his head injury but he has since made a good recovery.
Even though Olsen is still recovering, he has started to ride again and feels ready to race this weekend – he’ll contest the MX1 Danish Championship.
We caught up with Olsen ahead of his racing return but the main thing is hopefully he can just enjoy his first race…
Feelings ahead of getting back racing in Denmark this weekend…Â
I feel good, I have been back in Denmark for a while now. it’s good to be around my family and friends again after living in Belgium for six years. Of course I’m nervous about the race, but it’s always been the same during the years I’ve raced.
How the recovery has gone and if he misses racing…Â
Recovery has been going very well, it’s been a long rocky road and even though I’m still recovering, I feel like I’m back to my normal self again. I do miss riding, but to be honest I think it kind of looks cooler from the sideline than it actually is, it’s a very tough and demanding sport, often people don’t see that from the sideline.
Expectations for the Danish Championship this weekend…Â
I’m expecting to have fun, I’ve had a lot of days on the bike where everything been difficult and not very enjoyable. So, I hope I can go there to just relax and enjoy the racing again. Riding doesn’t come as natural to me as it did before, so I don’t really have a specific goal with the race.
Preparation ahead of the Danish championship…Â
I’ve been on the bike about once or twice a week. It is not as much as I’m used to, because the motivation isn’t as high as before, but enough to do a few short moto’s.
On if he has anymore races planned this year…Â
I don’t know yet, I’m racing this weekend to see how my body and mind will react to being behind the gate again, it might bring a lot of anxiety back but I want to face my fears and be strong minded about it.
On his future plans and possibly racing MXGP in the future again…Â
Nothing in the works, as I just mentioned I don’t know how I will react even to a small race. At the moment my speed on the bike is no where near GP speed. Maybe I could come back one day, but I don’t want to come back and be outside the top 20, that’s more frustrating than fun to me.
Interview: Andy McKinstry
Image: Shot by Bavo
