"It was a dream"

ÖSV downhill racer with new team, job and sponsor

Emily Schöpf raced into the spotlight with top performances last season - and is now a member of the "Rauch Racers".

(Bild: Rauch/Marcel Meyer, GEPA Pictures)

Emily Schöpf made her breakthrough last winter with her overall victory in the European Downhill Cup rankings and her first World Cup points - ahead of the World Championship season, the 24-year-old from Vorarlberg is now really taking off with a new team, a new job and a top sponsor.

From a Ländle perspective, she was the rising star of last winter: Emily Schöpf. "I wasn't happy with everything during the season. In hindsight, however, I can say that it was a really good winter," reveals the 24-year-old. Back in November 2023, she attracted attention as the runner-up in the only training session for the Zermatt downhill and came to the attention of the international media with a supposed world speed record - the Swiss timekeepers had to correct the speed retrospectively due to a measurement error.

A short time later, the Montafon native made her World Cup debut in Val d'Isere (Fra), grabbed her first World Cup points in Crans Montana (Sz) in February with 21st place and crowned her top season with overall victory in the European Cup downhill classification. This gave her a fixed starting place for the new World Cup season - in which a lot will be new for the racer from Tschagguns.

At the Kondi camp in Maribor, Emily Schöpf (back) was in the same boat as overall downhill World Cup winner Conny Hütter.

(Bild: Ski Austria)

In the same boat as the world's best downhill skier
Like the ÖSV training group! Schöpf is now part of the same group as downhill World Cup winner Conny Hütter and her Atomic brand colleague Mirjam Puchner, with whom she will also share the serviceman. "The atmosphere was right straight away," says Emily, who recently completed a conditioning camp with her colleagues in Maribor (Slo), where a rowing session with Hütter was on the agenda. "That was a completely new and not so easy experience. But we didn't capsize." The training group also includes two other veterans, former world runner-up Stephanie Venier and Tamara Tippler, who is making a comeback after a year's maternity leave. Young Lisa Grill from Salzburg completes the half-dozen.

A dream comes true with police job
But it's not just the training group that is new. July 1 also marks the start of a new phase in Schöpf's professional life. After retiring from the army a few days ago, she will be a top police athlete in the future. "It has always been my big dream to join the police," admits "Emy", who is one of just 17 athletes - including the likes of combined World Cup winner Johannes Lamparter - to have been offered an apprenticeship with the police force. "When you know that over 100 great athletes have applied, it fills you with pride." Emily also fits perfectly into her ÖSV group: with the exception of Venier, all of her teammates are also in the police force.

Emily Schöpf will be part of the select circle of "Rauch Racers" in the future.

(Bild: Rauch/marcelmayer.com)

Surprising offer
The third major change concerns her head sponsor. After being supported by the Posthotel Traube in Schruns for the last three years, the Montafon native has attracted the interest of other companies with her top performances in the previous season. "After the European Cup final in Kvitfjell, Mario Reiter informed me that the people in charge at Rauch wanted to meet me," explains Schöpf. "This was a completely new situation for me, as up until then I had always asked the companies whether they would be interested in sponsoring me."

(Bild: Rauch Fruchtsäfte)

The Vorarlberg fruit juice producer sees the likeable speed specialist as a young, up-and-coming athlete who fits perfectly into the circle of "Rauch Racers", which also includes giant slalom racer Stephi Brunner and ski crossers Sonja Gigler and Christina Födermayr. So they quickly became one. "We had a photo shoot in Schladming last weekend, where I felt really at home in the Rauch family straight away," beams Emy, who will start her first full World Cup season in a completely new position.