“The SGP showed me that I am on the right track!”

First of all, congratulations for a great performance in this year’s Summer Grand Prix. Will we also see you at the finals in Planica or do you prioritise your training at that time?

Mario Seidl: Thanks a lot! I will skip the finals in Planica because we are having a training camp in Oberhof at the time. The focus will be on using the ski tunnel to collect snow kilometres.

How will your next weeks and months until the season start look like?

Seidl: At the moment, I am on the way to Seefeld for our next training camp. Some equipment tests on the jumping hill are on schedule and we’ll also return to do some longer endurance sessions. All the different training groups will come together train and work on the team cohesion.

In October, the Austrian championships are taking place and on top of that, it’s time for the customary winter outfitting. In this month, we’ll also use the glaciers to keep up the snow contact. At the end of October, we are going to return to Oberstdorf to train on the ice track and at the beginning of November, we aim to do our last season preparations in Scandinavia again.

After having lost the SGP overall victory in Oberstdorf last year, how satisfying was it to really strike back at this venue, even hampered by a cold this time?

Seidl: I was able to show a great performance in last year’s competition series. This year, I managed to take it one step further. This showed me that I am on the right track and of course it wasn’t bad for my self-confidence for the upcoming winter! (laughs)

After a good summer 2016, your winter 2016/17 was also a good one, you were just missing one step to the top of the podium. Do you think you can take this step in the next winter?

Seidl: You’re right, the last winter showed me that I can be really consistent but it also showed that the last step to the very top was still missing. I hope to be able to take that step with a mixture of meticulous work and patience.

You were able to have your best World Cup results so far at the Olympic venue of PyeongChang. With which kind of feelings do you return there?

Seidl: I have gained a lot of confidence by collecting my first World Cup podiums in Korea of all places. Especially the large hill really suits me well and I had a great feeling there from the first jump onwards. I am certainly looking forward to seeing it again!

The dominant athlete and your main competitor in the last summer was Norwegian Jarl Riiber, another great jumper, like you. He had to take a long break due to his shoulder injury. What do you think he might be capable of when he returns?

Seidl: I think that Jarl was smart enough to take the necessary time off to get 100 % fit again. If he manages to tap into his full potential, I think he can be among the very best.