Comeback in September?
New Zealand camp comes too early for Nina Ortlieb
While Marcel Hirscher left New Zealand early due to bad weather, Austria's speed girls are on their way to Oceania. Rädler, Ager and Co. will be preparing for the World Championship season there until the end of September. One girl who will miss this trip after her serious injury is the reigning downhill vice world champion Nina Ortlieb.
"Our training camp in New Zealand was never in jeopardy at any time," emphasizes Christoph Alster from Egger, head coach of the ÖSV "Speed West" group. While Marcel Hirscher - according to his own statements due to the bad weather forecast - broke up his tents on New Zealand's South Island earlier than planned on Sunday and flew back to Europe, four Ski Austria girls took off in the opposite direction: Ari Rädler from Mögg, Mäggy Egger from Lech and the Tyroleans Tina Ager and Lena Wechner.
"They will spend three days acclimatizing in Sydney and then fly on to Christchurch with the coaching team on Friday," explains the 44-year-old, who, unlike in previous years, has decided to fly to New Zealand rather than Chile to prepare for the upcoming World Championship season. "I simply wanted to create new stimuli for the athletes and the whole team. We can also train more on artificial snow here and are not at an altitude of almost 3000 meters, as is the case in Chile. This should also make larger training volumes possible."
Focus on the "giant"
The first training block takes Alster and his athletes to the Mount Hutt ski resort, a good hour and a half's drive from Christchurch. "We have rented apartments in Methven, where we will also cook for ourselves," reveals the former World Cup skier. "Then we'll continue on to Coronet Peak. In the first few weeks, our focus will clearly be on giant slalom and skiing technique. There is certainly still a lot of potential there." The return to Mount Hutt is then planned for September 15. "That's when we want to do some super-G training and the odd downhill session," says Alster.
Ortlieb and Niederwieser will be missing
After a cartilage operation, Michelle Niederwieser from Buch will not be at the New Zealand camp. Lech downhill runner-up Nina Ortlieb, who broke her right tibia and fibula in the Swiss ski resort of St. Moritz in December 2023, will also be missing. "Both are already on the right track, but this trip is still too early for them," says Alster.
Return in September
"The plan is for Nina and Michelle to get back on their skis in September with back-to-race coach Meini Tatschl on the Stelvio Pass or in Sölden." Alster is not ruling out Ortlieb's race comeback at the speed girls' World Cup opener in Beaver Creek in mid-December: "That depends entirely on how Nina feels in the ski boot, whether the fracture is still causing her problems or not."
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