Home advantage pushes

ÖSV coach ahead of the World Championships: “We are good outsiders”

ÖSV head coach Marko Pfeifer

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

With eight podium places in the World Cup winter, Austria's men's ski team has performed far below expectations. For head coach Marko Pfeifer, that's no reason why they shouldn't win medals at their home World Championships. "We are the underdogs, the good underdogs, I see that positively."

Pfeifer is also counting on the home crowd in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. "I take it like in soccer. We have the twelfth man. That has to drive us, we want to use this energy for good results." 

The favorites come from Switzerland and Norway, Pfeifer listed. "We are the underdogs, the good underdogs, I see that as a positive. And I don't see anything that speaks against us. The team will deliver a positive performance." He had to compliment the runners and coaches, as there was never any unrest anywhere during the season. "There's a lot of pressure from outside. We are also aware of that. We are here with a team of 13 men who are very motivated. And I'm very positive about the form curve."

Of course, there are no serial winners like Marco Odermatt or Marcel Hirscher, but he has seen a lot of positives recently. "In the last downhill, without Vinc, we came fourth, eighth. In the super-G we were second, in the giant slalom we just missed the podium in fifth, in the slalom bam, bam, bam." In this slalom in Schladming, where Manuel Feller came second and Fabio Gstrein third, he also felt the support of the fans. "We'll take advantage of the fact that this spurs us on. I'm sure that the crowd will push us."

Kriechmayr with "some pain"
 The skiers are fit, Marco Schwarz is getting better and better. Pfeifer assumes that Vincent Kriechmayr, who has been injured on his knee since the Wengen downhill, will be at the start in the first training session on Wednesday. "Of course he's in a bit of pain, he's had a rest now. I hope that he is not so extremely limited." There are six speed racers in the ÖSV squad, including the young Stefan Eichberger, who finished sixth in Val Gardena/Gröden.

The fact that they have also trained on the World Championship course on the Zwölferkogel and know it well is not a disadvantage, at least in the speed disciplines, said Pfeifer. In giant slalom or slalom, however, it doesn't matter. "But we know from experience that this is often proven wrong. And people who haven't trained on the slopes become world champions." It's the same at the World Championships as in the World Cup, the fastest will be at the front.