In any case, ÖSV head coach Andreas Widholzl was happy about the “great conclusion” of the season in Planica. “We won the Nations Cup, Krafti won the Ski Flying World Cup. It’s confirmation for the whole team that we were on the right track and did a good job,” said the 46-year-old.
Kraft secured the small crystal globe in ski flying for the third time on Saturday with his 30th individual victory and third place on Sunday. The 29-year-old from Salzburg made sure of 17 podium finishes with five wins this season and six second and six third places each. Kraft now holds a total of 98 career podiums (30 wins, 32 second, 36 third). Only one has bettered that statistic in his career: Finnish legend Janne Ahonen with 108 podiums (36-44-28).
“Huge respect” for the whole team
In addition to all the joy about his individual performances, Kraft also emphasized the good team performance: “It was our goal to defend the Nations Cup. We had five brutally strong people, the battle over team jumping was always brutal, who’s jumping. I was never set there either,” explained Kraft. That’s why he pays the whole team “huge respect” and also means the service people, trainers and physiotherapists.
The superiority in the Nations Cup, Austria was 1,462 points ahead of Norway, does not reflect the entire season. “It wasn’t quite like that on the tour and at the World Cup. In some cases, the momentum wasn’t on our side. But you saw that we have five athletes who are constantly jumping into the top ten, so you score a lot of points,” said Wildholzl, adding: “It’s cool that we grew together. It was the goal that we had a strong team and not just a winning jumper.”
Tschofenig establishes itself in the World Cup
Widholzl would have wished for more podium finishes overall, but one of the boys made the breakthrough in Daniel Tschofenig. “He made an insane step this year. He was first in Lillehammer and Oslo after the first round and was close to his first win. I think the way is right. Now it’s time to analyze well and take a break.”
The longest Nordic Ski World Cup season was also exhausting for the head coach. “I’m glad it’s over, but when things are going well you always have more energy. We got through very well as a team, the boys are fit. But I prefer it to be a little shorter.”
TV notice
The winter season finale “Gold, Silver, Bronze” can be seen live on ORF1 from 6 p.m. today.
Peeing takes big ball
In the women’s season, Pinkelnig was clearly the best with six wins, second and third places each. She was the third Austrian to receive the crystal ball after Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (2014/15) and Sara Marita Kramer last year. “I’m really happy. In the summer I was so far away, podiums were a ‘mission impossible’. Now there are 18, I’ve won six times, that’s completely crazy,” said the Vorarlberg native.
In addition to Pinkelnig, Kreuzer (two wins, four podium places), Kramer (twice on the podium) and Mühlbacher (once on the podium) contributed to top rankings. The Austrians won the Nations Cup with a lead of 250 points over Germany.
Stecher not satisfied only with World Cup
Mario Stecher, the sports director in the ÖSV for ski jumping and Nordic combined, drew a satisfied balance of the season. “If you look at the whole season, it was very, very good. Of course there are one or two shortcomings when you talk about the World Cup.” You go to a World Cup to win. “We didn’t quite make it at the World Cup. We weren’t in very good shape at that point, we have to address that.”
But as a team, the ÖSV athletes did a great job. Stecher was particularly pleased about the team victory in ski flying on Saturday, the first on a flying hill in eleven years. “We put a lot of effort into working on the flight position. We have developed further.” Stecher is particularly impressed by Kraft because of his consistency: “You can only tip your hat to him that he has offered this performance over such a long period of time. Even when you see what a base he has and he’s still getting better at the end of the season.”
There will be a change in the women’s coaching staff next season, as ÖSV head coach Harald Rodlauer announced his resignation. However, Stecher did not want to overestimate any disagreements that arose within the team. “Harry got a lot out of the team this year, together with his coaching team. Every team has problems throughout the year. But overall, quite a lot must have been right, otherwise such successes would not be possible.”