"Rosi is always there, sometimes more, sometimes less"

A year without Rosi Mittermaier - "Rosi is always there, sometimes more, sometimes less"

When Rosi Mittermaier (1950-2023) succumbed to cancer on January 4, 2023, the public was shocked. Even though it was clear that she had lived a long and fulfilling life to the full, the timing of her departure from the world stage still seemed a little too soon. After the initial shock, thoughts soon turned to her bereaved husband Christian Neureuther (74), their children Felix (39) and Ameli (42) and their four grandchildren. After all, Rosi Mittermaier was not only a sporting legend, but also an absolute family person.

It was not easy to imagine Christian Neureuther without "Gold-Rosi" at his side. Since their wedding in 1980, the two had always been seen as a couple, and it is difficult to find any pictures of the former ski icon where she can be seen alone.

In the year of their wedding, Neureuther also ended his active sporting career, just like his wife four years earlier, immediately after their breathtaking gold medal successes at the 1976 Winter Olympics. After that, they both dedicated themselves to a career together away from the ski slopes and winners' podiums. The pair used their immense popularity for engagements as advertising ambassadors and sports commentators, wrote numerous books together about skiing and Nordic walking and were always welcome guests on TV shows of all kinds.

"Rosi is always there, sometimes more, sometimes less"

After the death of his wife, Neureuther initially withdrew from the public eye for many months. It was not until October 2023 that he returned to the public eye and spoke about his new life without Rosi at the "Talk im Schloss" event at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing. As reported by "Bunte", he made it clear in the interview that he was back on a fairly firm footing in life and was also able to laugh again. Nevertheless, the loss is of course still very difficult for him. "Rosi is with me every second," he explained there. "Rosi is always there, sometimes more, sometimes less."

He feels this constant connection not least in the natural surroundings of her idyllic family residence in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. "I go for a run on the mountain every day, the run that I used to go on with Rosi," he revealed to the audience. "It's mentally wonderful to look out into the mountains." Living in the big house on his own now, on the other hand, is very difficult for him. He still finds it almost unbearable to open his wife's wardrobe and see her clothes in front of him.

"She always said to me: you have to carry on!"

For the time after her death, however, his wife told him not to let himself fall too deeply into grief: "She always said to me: You have to carry on! And to the children: Take care of their father! The family is the center of everything!"

In an interview with the "Münchner Merkur" newspaper, the former world-class skier reported that it was above all his remaining family that gave him the support and strength to get through the difficult time. As they are all keen winter sports enthusiasts, there are many opportunities for joint activities in the Garmisch ski area: "It's just great to go on the slopes with my grandchildren. That gives me so much."

Son Felix Neureuther: Closer to heaven and mom in the mountains

Last October, his son Felix Neureuther revealed on the TV talk show "3 nach 9" that he pursues similar nature-loving strategies to his father in order to stay close to his mother. He also regularly goes to the mountains because he feels closer to heaven there and therefore also to his mother. Up there, he says, there is ultimate peace and quiet, you can think about things and reflect on them. Of course, he always looks upwards, because the mountains also bring back many memories of shared experiences. "But that also helps a lot to process things," says the former ski racer. "Because it's not gone, it's still there."

Until the end, he didn't realize how famous his mom actually was: "It was only through this sympathy, which was gigantic, that you really became aware of it: Oops - what did she actually do to people back then, in the seventies, when she was so successful?" However, this overwhelming and sincere sympathy also had its pitfalls during the time of mourning. "You had the feeling that everyone wanted to say goodbye to her somehow. And that doesn't necessarily make the process of coming to terms with it any easier." But the pride in her famous and beloved mother prevailed.