Next upheaval in the ÖSV coaching team

According to unconfirmed information, speed boss Alexander Hödlmoser and speed group trainer Florian Scheiber want to change, and technology boss Georg Harzl is one of them. “There will definitely be changes there. If the whole team actually experiences a descent, then you have to act,” said ÖSV Alpine boss Herbert Mandl.

First of all, the two outstanding races at the World Cup final in Andorra would be staged, then there would be talks, the Lower Austrian confirmed. “Then you have to think about where things didn’t work out so well. We don’t have to fool ourselves, especially with the technical women we didn’t succeed at all. In terms of speed, the team also has more potential than it showed. But it was definitely a good season on the speed side,” said Mandl.

Austria will take second place in the Nations Cup this season, a respectable distance behind Switzerland. It is also number two for men, and only third for women behind Switzerland and Italy. “That’s not what we want, no question. We’ve won the Nations Cup for so many years, now we’ve had two years in a row where we’re behind,” Mandl explained. “But I think we have good potential to turn that around as soon as possible. That’s also one of our goals for next season.”

The current coaching structure and the people working within it were only installed after the end of the previous season. Hödlmoser and Karlheinz Pichler, who looks after group WC3 with the all-rounders, returned to ÖSV, Harzl took over the technicians instead of Hannes Zöchling. Livio Magoni, who left the ÖSV last January, joined Katharina Liensberger as supervisor. Thomas Trinker was appointed as the new racing director for the women. Mandl himself has only been working for the ÖSV again for about a year.

Hödlmoser should say goodbye on his own. “It’s a shame, no question. I see Alex as a top man in the downhill, especially with a lot of experience,” Mandl said in recognition of the long-standing coach of the US women around Lindsey Vonn. Scheiber also wanted to change last year. “Maybe he’ll be interested in a job with the gentlemen. Everyone has to look after their own interests where they feel they’re in good hands,” said Mandl.

To say that everything will change would be premature. For the men, on the other hand, there shouldn’t be any significant changes, Mandl found “a good cooperation” in the groups. “I think we should keep that.”