Big difference in level
Because at a Junior World Championships, the difference in level among the participants is very large. “You have runners who are top places in the World Cup and some who haven’t even really competed in the European Cup.” Austria’s talent pool has hardly changed numerically over the decades. “The pool was never particularly big in Austria. In the mid-90s we had 45 boys per year who had FIS points, now it’s similar. In Italy, the talent pool is four or five times larger. Nevertheless, we bring many to the top of the world, that’s the good work of the association. If Italy worked like that, they would ruin everything.”
