ÖSV coach sounds the alarm: Brunner: “We are far behind Switzerland”

ÖSV speed coach Sepp Brunner has sounded the alarm about the future and sees Austria needing to catch up when it comes to promoting young talent – especially compared to Switzerland.

Ten races, three victories, nine podium places – the ski slopes of Austria had a successful start to the World Cup winter. In the national rankings, ÖSV is ranked high behind the Swiss Confederation; In the men's category, the difference is only 57 points in the World Cup. However, things are not going as hoped in all disciplines.

At least so far there have been no landing successes. “Our performance has been poor so far,” says technical director Marco Pfeiffer. After three races in the top classification, the ÖSV men are still waiting for the first podium place. This last happened in the 2015/16 season. The best result was achieved by veteran Vincent Krechmeier, who finished fifth in Bormio.

No show and bad luck with injuries

Ahead of the traditional sprint races in Wengen and Kitzbühel, concerns are growing due to recent developments. Because: “Unfortunately, we are very thin on the landing, so we have to be honest,” says speed coach Sepp Brunner. In “The Crown” Attention to the problem. “We have a few people who can get to the front, and if they miss out, it will be difficult.”

On the one hand, the sudden resignation of long-time best player Matthias Mayer before a good year contributed to the lack of breadth in the team. On the other hand, bad luck with injuries to Max Franz and now Marco Schwarz, who tore his cruciate ligament in Bormio before the start of the year and will be out for a long time, further aggravates the situation.

“We have to apply leverage there.”

Clearly, there are no potential successors on the horizon who could fill the top job. “A lot has been lost in recent years, and we have to address that clearly,” Brunner says clearly. This is also due to the lack of training opportunities in the speed sector, which is why the focus in Austria is to encourage young talents more towards technical specializations.

“We have to apply the levers to remain competitive at the top in the future,” warns Brunner. “We are far behind Switzerland in this development, and there is much more to come – but with their glaciers they also have completely different training options,” says the former Swiss ski coach. “This is not possible with us anymore.”

ÖSV threatens to feel the consequences this winter. After the three departures so far, Austria has only two riders in the top 30 – apart from Schwarz, who is no longer able to attack this season: Vincent Kriechmeier and Stefan Babinski. Switzerland, on the other hand, is much better represented by the sextet made up of Marco Odermatt, Nils Hintermann, Marco Kohler, Justin Morisier, Stefan Rogentin and Franjo von Almen.