Qualifiers Rehrl, Pichlmayer and Klapfer - Nordic
Combined Austria
The Austrian team is now ready, set and on the way
to Kuusamo. After a last mini-camp in Rovaniemi
to make the first snow jumps of the winter, the
team of head coach Christoph Eugen will now travel
to Ruka where they will pass the last days until
the season kick-off.
But actually, the last couple of days have been
quite difficult for the Austrian squad. The internal
test competition for the remaining three starting
places next to Bernhard Gruber, Mario Stecher, Willi
Denifl, Christoph Bieler and Mario Seidl had to
be postponed due to the lack of snow in Lillehammer
where the team was on a training camp last week.
With a postponed decision from Thursday to Sunday,
the athletes had to wait for a final confirmation
if they will be on the team or not. The three lucky
candidates who have made the team were Lukas Klapfer,
Marco Pichlmayer and youngster Franz-Josef Rehrl.
In spite of all dificulties, head coach Eugen has
a positive outlook on the upcoming competitions:
"We have worked very well over the summer and
the first snow jumps are looking good. It isn't
easy to jump in Kuusamo due to the difficult weather
conditions, so the older and more experiences athletes
will have an advantage. On top of these veterans,
we have three qualifiers who are in good shape right
now. This is a powerful team and I am very happy
to finally get started."
Youngster Rehrl has already set his sights on a
goal for his World Cup weekend: "I am happy
to have made a mark in our internal qualification
competition. Now, I have to work on establishing
myself in the World Cup but it will all be about
having fun and just try to keep up with the world
elite."
