Who am I?

As most of you know, I am somehow obsessed with sports and train at least two hours on an average day, six days a week. So people who visit me at home are not really surprised to see a whole shelf stuffed with sports equipment when they enter my living room. If they have a look through it, they can see dumbbells of different sizes, colourful thera-  and deuserbands, all kind of running shoes, skipping ropes made from different materials and a ... hm ... yea, what is that strange thing?

I have had people asking me if it was a kind of a knight's helmet or the protection cloth that beekeepers wear ...but I can tell you I'm definitely not breeding bees, it is actually a fencing mask! Believe it or not, but I used to be a competitive épée fencer until the age of fourteen. But let me tell you the whole story. It all started in primary school, when Lissy, former Olympic épée fencer and trainer of the UWK fencing club, was searching for young talents. Therefore she visited several schools, bringing equipment with her and giving brief instructions before the children were allowed to just try it out. The ones who she thought were talented received an invitation for a free lesson at the club ... and I was one of those who got selected. So I went there - and immediately knew I loved it! I used to be a shy, quiet and self-conscious child, but training at the club, as well as fencing itself made me gain more and more self confidence.

I spent four great years there and found some true friends, with whom I shared numerous amazing moments, e.g. winning a bronze and a silver medal as a team at the Austrian Championship, taking part in a World Cup tournament and of course endless hours of hard training. One of my personal highlights was the Styrian Championship in 2009, where I fought really well and even managed to win the title.

Now you may ask "Why the hell did you quit if you had such a great time?" ... Yep, that is a good question, and to be honest, I still regret it a little bit. The reason why I quit was that I simply lost the motivation. The problem was, that while I was a fast, confident, and technically strong athlete at the club, I suddenly was full of doubt when entering the competition hall and lost against opponents, who I actually should have beaten easily. Nowadays I sometimes feel like I just should have been more patient but on the other hand, to quit fencing enabled me to try out so many other things and to make a whole lot of new experiences.

So that is it - the story behind the mysterious blue helmet hanging in my living room.