Nordic combined

ÖSV coach sees generation change heralded

ÖSV head coach Christoph Bieler(Bild: GEPA)

Superstar Jarl Magnus Riiber is calling it a day at the age of 27 and there could also be farewells in Austria's Nordic combined national team in the not so distant future - conceivably in a year or so after the Olympic season. There is no doubt that 30-year-old Martin Fritz and 31-year-old Franz-Josef Rehrl and Lukas Greiderer are still competitive, but ÖSV head coach Christoph Bieler believes that the generation change has begun and that young people are moving up - also seen in Seefeld ...

"We don't just have Johannes (Lamparter, note) and Stefan (Rettenegger) as two driving forces on their own, but also other people who are constantly forging ahead in the background," said the coach. The 24-year-old Styrian Fabio Obermeyr finished in the top ten for the first time on Saturday with the second-fastest time in ninth place. Behind him, Bieler is also counting on names such as 19-year-old Paul Walcher and 18-year-old Andreas Gfrerer for the coming years. The latter finished 29th in his World Cup debut on Friday and finished in the top 30.

Bieler: "Great work in the centers and junior areas"
 "I'm really pleased that we have another really, really talented youngster in the starting blocks," said Bieler, praising the Salzburg native. This shows that "really great work is being done" in the centers and in the youth areas. "This is also important because with Fritz, Rehrl and Greiderer we have athletes who I say won't be around for very, very long. They are in an area with family and home where one or the other can say: 'That's it now!" Without athletes moving up, it would then be "relatively thin".

"We'll still need one or two of them!"
The established athletes, all candidates for the Trondheim World Championship team, are still very important. Bieler: "They are all three top athletes who have delivered top performances in the past. We will still need one or two of them to be successful at major events." While Obermeyr is a World Championship topic after his performance in Seefeld, Walcher and Junior Olympic champion Gfrerer are heading to Lake Placid for the Junior World Championships (February 10-16). Medal winners there will receive a fixed World Cup place in 2025/26.

That is the big goal, said Bieler, as it gives the respective athletes peace of mind - in a compact team, as he sees his team. At the moment, for example, the team structure is being strengthened by Obermeyr's class as a runner. "It's good because the rest of the team is very jump-oriented. That's why it's very, very important that we have a man like him in the team." The 16-year-old Katharina Gruber could play a similar role in the ÖSV women's team in the coming years. The strong skier from Upper Austria achieved her first top 15 result on Saturday in 14th place.