Gabriella Sokalova, 32, got lost in Italian South Tyrol and had to spend the night under the open sky at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters during a failed search underway.
Now you’re talking about horror.
– I feared for my life, says the former biathlon star.
Czech Gabriela Sokalova, who has two World Cup golds and two Olympic silvers for her account, was on a family vacation in Italy’s South Tyrol when a mountain bike trip suddenly turned into a pure nightmare.
In an interview with Czech CNN Prima, the now 32-year-old recounts how an “optical illusion” tricked her into getting lost in the mountains, forcing her to spend a frozen night under the open sky.
Battery run out
Sokalova says she panicked when her phone ran out of batteries and could no longer use the GPS.
I was able to make one last call to the emergency services and sound the alarm about her emergency situation, but by then it was already dark.
Hours passed, darkness fell and Sokalova became more and more anxious.
– There and then it was about staying, she says.
The drama unfolded in the mountains near Lake Livigno, at over 2,000 metres, where temperatures can dip below freezing even at this time of year.
– I was mostly afraid of bears, but the cold was also one of the factors. I climbed into a place that was protected and did a lot of exercises not to lose body temperature. I didn’t sleep all night, she says.
I searched in the wrong place
The search continued all night, but the helicopters looking for Sokalova were looking in the wrong place.
At dawn, I made a risky choice.
– I realized I needed to go higher so the helicopters had a chance to see me. It climbed several hundred meters. It’s good to be fit after all these years as an elite athlete, because it was so tough.
The nightmare ended when the mountain climber heard her desperate cries for help.
Sokalova describes the moment she met her husband Milos and their one-year-old daughter Isabel as surreal.
– When I finally got to hug them again… Gabriella Sokalova says it was probably the happiest moment of my life.