Two Waidlers in action for the German national biathlon team. Korbinian received Tolksdorf from his good friend Daniel Herzog (right) Photo: Private
Two Waidlers in action for the German national biathlon team. Korbinian received Tolksdorf from his good friend Daniel Herzog (right) Photo: Private
Speed has always played an important role in Korbinian Tolksdorf’s (30) life. Few footballers can sprint away from their opponents like him. The Mauther scored many of the 200 or so goals in his career because he was simply more agile. This winter, the 30-year-old makes sure that others are quick: Tolksdorf is a ski technician for the German national biathlon team.
The district league kicker of TSV Mauth came to this new task through his good friend Daniel Herzog and therefore the trained stonemason is looking forward to completely new experiences as an employee of the German Ski Association (DSV). He will be on the road for eight or nine weeks in total until March, traveling with the athletes of the second-class IBU Cup – Tolksdorf is currently in the Idre Fjäll ski area (Sweden) until Sunday, before going straight to Sjusjoen (Norway), where the first ones Races of the new season take place. Here as there, the Mauther prepares the cross-country skis for the athletes. He will even meet competitive athletes with World Cup experience.
As the DSV announced this week, Maren Hammerschmidt (32), Franziska Hildebrand (34) and Karolin Horchler (32) belong to the squad for the IBU Cup; For the time being they missed the nomination for the World Cup, which starts on Saturday in Östersund (Sweden) – and are now counting on ski “Wachsler” Korbinian Tolksdorf. With Daniel Herzog and Rene Altenburger-Kock from Bodenmais, the team of technicians even includes three Waidlers. They test the skis, talk to the athletes and take care of the preparation and maintenance of the “boards” – “pretty cool”, says Tolksdorf about his winter job. “The landscape in Sweden is an absolute dream, even if the trails are still mostly made of artificial snow,” reports the 30-year-old from Idre.
Confident for relegation battle: “We have to stick together as a team”
In late summer he had the opportunity to slide into the ski circus. In the family business in Mauth it is a bit quieter in the winter months anyway, so Tolksdorf was able to plunge into the adventure. However, he missed a district league game of TSV Mauth because he was at a course in Obertilliach at the time of the home game against Künzing (1: 3). The striker, who scored ten of his team’s 22 goals in the current season, was back in time for the basement duel against Hebertsfelden and scored two goals in the 6-1 win. As a result, the promoted team shortened the gap to a non-relegation place to six points; at the same time, TSV now has a seven point lead on bottom light Hebertsfelden. Sprinter Tolksdorf is therefore confident that “a lot is still possible in terms of relegation” in the spring. “The most important thing for the second half of the season is that we stick together as a team, then we’ll come out of the winter break stronger than before,” promises the 30-year-old.
