Thanks to the strong help of speed aces Hütter (913 points), Stephanie Venier (726) and Mirjam Puchner (529), but also technician Katharina Liensberger (447), 1,004 more points were scored than in the previous season. In the end, the lead over the second-placed Swiss was 333 points.
For Assinger, who worked at a Swiss ski school for three years before returning, the success in the Nations Cup was also a personal satisfaction. The trophy has been going back and forth since 2020, Austria was number one in 2022. Association President Roswitha Stadlober explained before the successful conclusion in Saalbach-Hinterglemm that Assinger had managed to re-establish a team spirit in a short time.
Reuters/Leonhard Foeger Cornelia Hütter crowned a strong season by winning the Downhill World Cup
15 of the 17 ÖSV podium places on fast courses
The speed specialists, who had already won World Cup medals in the previous winter, were finally led to success by Assinger. They alone brought 15 of the 17 podium places – four wins, six second and five third places – into the balance sheet.
“If you look back on the season, the speed area was very good,” was Assinger’s unsurprising conclusion. “We were on the podium with different runners, that is very important to me.” In addition to Hütter (seven podium places, two wins) and Venier (four and two), there were Puchner and Christina Ager with three and one top-three results respectively. Nina Ortlieb, the runner-up downhill world champion who was injured in the summer, missed the entire winter.
“Trust is the basis”
According to Assinger, the athletes see the increased internal competition as positive, and a successful start also made a lot of things easier. “In downhill skiing, trust is the basis,” recalled the former downhill skier. Trust in the coaching team is fundamental because “you depend a lot on radio messages.” It is also clear: “Communication must be at the forefront.”
Ski alpin Damen
Ratings and calendar
Before the upcoming home World Championships, it is now important to “turn and readjust” further wheels, be it in the fitness or skiing area. “In the downhill run, for example, we still have reserves over the waves.” The aim is to also increase the size of the team in order to get even more runners onto the podium across disciplines.
Young people are not pushing forward
What is striking is that the podium and good points drivers have been the same for years. The second and third series must therefore be promoted. “That is the main goal for the next few years, to get the lower squads so far that they can slowly get into the World Cup and then catch up,” said the head coach.
A meeting would have already taken place with the new ÖSV sports director Mario Stecher. The exchange with the former Nordic director will be intensified in the coming weeks, said Assinger. “I believe that you can create a certain transfer and maybe get something out of it that hasn’t been discussed until now.”
“We have work in the technical disciplines”
The giant slalom remains a construction site. Stephanie Brunner and Julia Scheib came in fourth and fifth among the extended world leaders at the season finale. “But there’s still a lot missing moving forward,” admitted Assinger after the fourth RTL season in a row without a podium finish. The performances in the broader slalom team were more satisfactory, although the dip in form was obvious after a surprisingly successful start to the season with two third places by Liensberger and Katharina Troupe.
“We have work to do in the technical disciplines,” Assinger summed up soberly after a season that he described as an “exploratory year” in the technical competitions. The team structure should be strengthened even more here. He even viewed Jasna’s historic zero, when no ÖSV giant slalomist ended up in the points, as positive, “as hard as that sounds.” “Because then you come together even more and get to the bottom of the cause even more. You really question, why has it come to this? I think this is a step that will take us further in the future,” said Assinger.
