Golden girl goes for two

Eurosport: How did you celebrate your victory?

Michaela Dorfmeister: To be honest, I haven't really got around to celebrating yet. I had lots of commitments and had to give a lot of interviews. On the day of my victory, I was only finished with all the interviews at 23:30. Then I celebrated with friends and family until 3:30, but not at full throttle.

Eurosport: What kind of response did you get from your home fans?

Dorfmeister: An unbelievable amount of people entered messages of congratulations in the guest book on my homepage. I also received lots of faxes and SMS's. But I'll probably get the biggest response when I arrive back home.

Eurosport: How does it feel to be Olympic champion?

Dorfmeister: I think at the moment I couldn't really realise the meaning of what actually happened. It was simply an unbelievably beautiful day that I enjoyed thoroughly. An Olympic champion is a title you never lose. To belong to this very special family now is unbelievable.

Eurosport: 2006 has been a huge year for you. Victories in the World Cup, then the "near-death experience" in St. Moritz, where you narrowly escaped a collision with a piste worker, the World Cup overall victory in the downhill and now your victory at the Olympics. Enough subject matter for a film...

Dorfmeister: Everything is like a dream. The people are celebrating with me, that's the only way I know it's reality. In the last year of my career, everything's been going sensationally well. I'm skiing untroubled and really enjoying it - I'm looking forward to it every time I'm on the start line.

Eurosport: Wouldn't it then be logical to keep skiing and not end your career?

Dorfmeister: No. I can count the number of races left in me on the fingers of one hand - that's my recipe for success. It's coming to an end and I'm savouring every moment. I could get lots of money out of my Olympic victory, but that's just not me.

Eurosport: Has your life changed or will that come?

Dorfmeister: Personally nothing will change, that's for sure. The only thing is that my popularity at home will increase. Other than that, everything will stay the same. I know which people are genuinely pleased for me and which ones are sucking up. I can tell the difference!

Eurosport: How do you come to grips with the whole press hype?

Dorfmeister: In the Austrian team we have a press official who leaves me to get on with my thing and priorities. So generally I set a maximum of two commitments each day and that's enough.

Eurosport: What have you set your sights on for the Olympic Super-G?

Dorfmeister: In this race, us Austrians certainly rank among the favourites. If I can manage to get off to a good start, then there is certainly another medal in there for me.