The German Ski Federation (DSV) wants to benefit from Felix Neureuther beyond his active career. “As the German Ski Federation, we must do everything we can to keep Felix Neureuther in some form after his career,” said men’s national coach Mathias Berthold at t-online.de in Sölden/Austria before the World Cup kick-off this weekend.
Neureuther (34) starts his 17th World Cup season this year, it could be the last one. Whether he will be at the giant slalom on Sunday (from 10 am in the LIVETICKER) is not yet certain. After a cruciate ligament rupture last November, Neureuther had recently lost training days due to his painful back.
As the farewell of its best racer approaches, the DSV is already thinking about the time afterwards. “Felix is very important for German skiing. On a sporting level and also as far as the human field is concerned. He is the perfect driving force to get young people excited about skiing,” said the Austrian Berthold.
He is “confident that he will remain with us. He loves sports and loves working with young people.” Neureuther could “certainly be a great coach”. “But I can hardly imagine that he would do this to himself immediately after the end of his active career,” says Berthold (53): “As a coach, you can travel up to 300 days a year. That’s certainly not the right thing for a young family man.”