New task for Matthias Mayer

The 32-year-old from Carinthia will contribute his expertise in the preparation and at some World Cup stations, as Ski Austria announced on Thursday. Among other things, Mayer will be present at the speed opener in Zermatt, in Bormio, Kitzbühel and at the season finale in Saalbach.

At the end of December, during the World Cup in Bormio, the man from Afritz suddenly declared his successful career over. A few months later he returns to the ski circus as a supervisor for his ex-colleagues. “Comeback is a good cue, but certainly not as an active racer, I will be there in the World Cup. I’ll be taking on an advisory mentoring role and I’m really looking forward to that”explained Mayer.

give coaches a hand

He describes his function as follows: “My specific task is such that there is a fixed team of coaches, and I am there to help and try to help the coaches, to support them and to develop the whole thing a little further.” He is very excited about the new task. “I’m happy to be back in the team, to be with the boys. On the other hand, it’s completely new territory for me. I’m excited, thinking about what I can contribute. I’m curious to see how this will be accepted and how I can express myself a little in the whole thing.”

He will be in action for the first time in autumn at a training course in Zermatt and there at the Speed ​​World Cup opener, as well as in Bormio and in Kitzbühel and at the season finale in Saalbach. In addition, Mayer also wants to help at the European Cup in Saalbach to support the younger athletes and the next generation.

Mayer is also thinking about coaching

In the medium term, a real coaching function is also conceivable. “Coach education is a very high goal in Austria. I do think that I will tend in this direction in the next few years.” But he wants to take it step by step and will initially be active in an advisory role.

He agreed on this with racing manager Marco Pfeifer. “I am very pleased that Matthias will be on board and will support us. We can incorporate his expertise, he will help us in an advisory capacity”, said Pfeifer, who also comes from Carinthia. Mayer was very motivated in the talks. “He was positively impressed and had a twinkle in his eyes. He is still enthusiastic about skiing. I expect a lot of added value from his inputs.”

During his career, Mayer had hit the Olympic Games in particular and won gold three times. 2014 in the downhill, 2018 and 2022 in the Super-G, plus downhill bronze last year in Beijing. The winner of eleven World Cup races, including two in Kitzbühel, went empty-handed at World Championships several times just behind the medal ranks. He was also denied a World Cup crystal ball.