Ski jumping: Schlierenzauer: “I am on a really very good path”

Ski jumping star Gregor Schlierenzauer wants to know again after a few years with injuries and mental lows. The former series winner finally feels well prepared for the home World Championship season thanks to his smooth preparation and is highly motivated as he has not been for a long time. The adaptation to the newly reformed material, however, also caused him some headaches.

“I am on a really very good path, I have again the anticipation and the right motivation to step on the gas. The feeling is good. Only the adaptation to the material is still a little missing”, the 28-year-old World Cup record winner emphasized in the run-up to the World Cup winter starting in Wisla this weekend in conversation with the APA.

However, it will not fail because of fitness. “I have a very intense summer behind me, for the first time in three years injury-free. I feel that I am physically back where I was before my cruciate ligament rupture. That makes me confident.” After many years of competition, his motto in strength training was: Optimum instead of maximum.

The optimum in the course of the season would be a medal for the Stubaier at the World Championships in Seefeld. “There is still time until February, my goal now is consistency, with that comes security, trust, and then it is a question of time that you take the last step, and then you are there,” said the twelve-time World Cup medal winner. The two-time overall World Cup winner also draws confidence from “runaways” such as the unexpected silver medal at the 2015 World Championships and the ski flying world record with a grip on the snow last March.

After the cruciate ligament rupture in 2016, motivation problems and another knee injury in the previous year, he has meanwhile found the joy necessary for success again. “That I was pretty burned out for a few years, you know. These phases in the life of a top athlete are part of it, I’m through, I believe that the bottom has been reached.” The former world champion continues to work with mental advisors and psychologists. “That’s very good for me,” the Tyrolean stressed.

The new coaching staff around head coach Andreas Felder also had a positive effect. “We’re on the same wavelength, we’ve found each other very well. The Andi is also in Tyrol, he was there with every jump, which is good for me and very important. There is a clear line and there is good training,” said Schlierenzauer about Heinz Kuttin’s successor.

In consultation with Felder, a jump technique mission statement had been developed, which must be adhered to. “We’ve tried to work on the structure, the technology, how the jump looks like. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We haven’t changed that much.” The most important thing is simply to get the essentials right. “We have tried to push a technical model forward and to loop it in for me. It’s hard as a bone, like a new golf swing.” For him it was a matter of getting certain “construction sites” right again.

This made it more difficult for him to change the rules again, which meant that he had to use much shorter skis. “This is also a question of adaptation. Now the challenge is to find the setup that fits.” After all, he is now jumping the same ski length as twelve years ago as a World Cup newcomer.

An important factor is to find the right feeling again and then preserve it. Schlierenzauer: “The decisive thing is that when the athlete has the feeling and the aha effect, he then saves it. The question is how often do you bring it together in winter. (Kamil) Stoch had it last year, I’ve had it before too.” This has already worked several times in the preparation. “Then I have phases inside again where I find it harder. But it takes time, every jump is useful.”

Schlierenzauer, who has been waiting for an individual podium place in the World Cup since December 2014, also believes that the entire ÖSV team is better positioned again. Of course, no miracles were to be expected. “I think that we are on a very good path, that we as a team are taking a united step forward. But we have to look in the mirror and say we still need a little.”