Olympia 2018: Sentiment among ÖSV eagles at the low point

After the first Olympic Games without a medal in 2002, Austrian ski jumpers have only had a short time to lick their wounds. At the beginning of March, the World Cup will continue in Lahti: no fewer than seven individual and four team competitions are still on the agenda:”We have to get things right again this season and get back to normal ski jumping,”is the premise of Ernst Vettori.

Vettori told the APA:”You can’t exclude anything – including me,”said Vettori to the APA.

There is a lot of work to be done, especially between head coach Heinz Kuttin and Gregor Schlierenzauer, the best harmony does not seem to exist at the moment. The Carinthian criticized after the disgraceful team performance, less because of the fourth place, but because of the almost 100 points gap to bronze, openly the record World Cup winner, but also Manuel Fettner. Schlierenzauer himself did not want to go into it in more detail, because he had already once burned his own fingers. This allusion was valid for those discussions in Sochi four years ago, which were ultimately a reason for Alexander Pointner’s end of his coaching career.

Actually, there is only one jumper in the entire team who leaves South Korea with a positive feeling: Michael Hayböck has increased considerably on the large hill “It is clear that we are far away, even if we are fourth. For me personally it has taken a good turn for me here, because I really managed to come in the course of a big event in a horny form to come”, the Upper Austrian stated on late Monday evening local time. For the first time he feels that not much could happen to him on the hill. What has not been much so far has been nothing but expenses, nothing,”Hayböck joked and added seriously,” but now there’s something else.”

Of course, he thought about it:”If he had made such a strong second round in the single large jump as in the team competition, then his first individual medal would have been close at a big event. Hayböck doesn’t think discussions about a replacement for Kuttin are appropriate:”I can do very well with Heinz, we have really made some progress in the last few days:” I only have a tradition of creative roles with the footballers and I wouldn’t want to give up my own boss coach at the moment,”he clarified.

As sobering as the whole season, Olympia was also for the high-flyer of the pre-season. Double world champion, overall winner of the World Cup, ski-flying world record holder: Stefan Kraft couldn’t make the connection to his successful season even with his debut under the sign of the rings “Due to the tour I lost a little bit of the wire. It never came to the right conclusion, what I would have had on it. Then you want more and more and now, unfortunately, the spiral has turned further and further”, confessed the Salzburg resident who cannot explain to himself why some of the jumps on the video do not bring the necessary breadth.

After all the triumphs of last year’s relapse:”At some point I’ll soon be back on track and hopefully I’ll have learned something for my next Olympic Games” Kraft also knows that something has to be changed:”We have to make a new start, think about the material, also about the bond and take a good look at it,” he didn’t want to say much about the coaching theme “That’s not my job, but I think they all have a lot of things to say about it. Everyone imagined it differently.”

However, the fact that Norway, Germany and Poland were so superior is not the result of Stefan Kraft, who was out of shape. The three nations are brutally powerful at the moment. We’ll look into it and get back there,”says Kraft, who doesn’t want to hear anything for a week. After a workout in peace and quiet, he will concentrate on Lahti “I’m going to look for a small change from the material, that’s what I need. Maybe I can go there with the good memories of last year’s World Cup with a few emotions,”said Kraft looking towards the 2017 World Cup venue Lahti.

I want to make the connection and get stuck in the front, that’s the big goal. If I can do it again, I’ll be proud of myself.”

Schlierenzauer also puzzles, but makes it clear:”It is not a state secret that I have a difficult time. The way I am feeling now, I feel much better than in Sochi… as far as I am concerned,”he said without looking at the results (silver in Sochi, note) and he said:”That you have to fall on your snout as a top athlete is perhaps also a good thing. But now would be the time to show what you can do.” It’s an honor to be there.”But it’s not my thing.”

Of course, I question every day whether we’re doing everything right, whether we’re leading the team right,”admits Kuttin,” I’m not the kind of guy who’s in there every day. Last year, it was the same team of coaches as last year, and the season was marked by Kraft’s performance:” We went on working right away, there was a small amount of material change, and there was no excuse for the material. We’re very well-positioned, we’re driving a super speed.”

Even though there is not much to be done this year: A conciliatory season’s end would be a blessing in view of the home world championships in Seefeld (and Innsbruck). The former ÖSV”Adler” want to fight back there.