Meliessnig's Return?

ÖSV Alpine Director Responds to Kriechmayr’s Announcement

Vincent Kriechmayr sent a clear message to the ÖSV in Kvitfjell.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Vincent Kriechmayr made a clear statement to the ÖSV in Kvitfjell, declaring: If fitness coach Peter Meliessnig returns, he will continue his career. Now ÖSV Alpine Director Christian Mitter has responded: “We’re working on it,” he explains. But there’s a big “but.” 

If fitness coach Peter Meliessnig returns to his team, “then I’ll keep going,” said Kriechmayr after the final downhill race of the season on Saturday in Kvitfjell. Meliessnig had already been Kriechmayr’s trusted fitness coach between 2015 and 2024 before being hired by Red Bull to get Lindsey Vonn back on her feet.

“He’s an outstanding guy. That’s exactly the kind of person you need to push through the final stretch in the summer. It’s a shame he wasn’t valued enough by the ski association, which is why he called it quits,” Kriechmayr explained on ORF. To push himself to the limit in the summer, he needs the best people. “And that’s why I need him.”

Kriechmayr is turning up the heaton
 Michael Walchhofer once felt the same way, and later Anna Veith did too—she, too, had wanted Meliessnig as her fitness coach and physical therapist during her public feud with the ÖSV. The athlete wouldn’t say whether the big name himself is open to a return to Kriechmayr. “The company that snagged him won’t be stupid enough to let a man like that go. I hope that with this message—and I hope they (the association, ed.) will forgive me—I’m putting a little pressure on them,” said Kriechmayr.

Christian Mitter(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Christian Mitter, who has been serving as the ÖSV’s alpine director for just under a year, then rolled out the red carpet for Meliessnig, calling him a “great guy and expert.” “I would love to work with him; he can help us as an entire federation. All the better if a top athlete like Vinc is happy to work with him,” said Mitter. “We’re on it, but of course it’s also his personal decision whether to work with the federation again.”