Athlete of the Week: Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT)

With his third place in the Individual Gundersen event in Oberstdorf, Franz-Josef Rehrl entered a very exclusive club: until now Germans and Norwegians had occupied all individual podiums this winter. Now Rehrl added his Austrian flag to the mix, a development of great importance right before the big highlight of the season, the Nordic Combined TRIPLE in Seefeld (AUT).

Strong ski jumper Rehrl had struggled with his cross-country shape due to an illness earlier in the season but finally seems to have recovered well. Even though the last metres to the Norwegian masters of the jumping hills seems to elude ski jumping prodigy Rehrl this year, it was above all his cross-country race on the very challenging tracks in Oberstdorf that impressed this weekend.

“I was very disappointed after the ski jumping part”, a calm and analytical Rehrl admitted at the press conference after the event. “It seemed like I was missing those crucial 20 seconds to the top jumpers again, which have kept me off the podium so far.” Rehrl turned his frustrations out on the cross-country track. Not only did he manage to close the gap to the leading Riiber and Oftebro but he even tried to put up a fight in a finish line sprint against Oftebro.

“I believe this was one of my strongest races ever. I just took my heart into my hands into the first two laps and tried to ski towards Jarl and Jens. I almost wanted to give up after 1.5 laps as the gap was not getting smaller. Then, I made the decision to just go my speed as I knew I could get to the finish like that. Luckily, the two in front got a little bit slower, so I could catch them and rest a bit,” Rehrl recounts the race.

“On the final stretch, I really tried to go for it but have to admit, my legs were heavy from the first two laps. But generally, I am so pleased with this result. I am back in top shape, right before the TRIPLE in Seefeld next week.”

As the only season highlight, this year’s Nordic Combined TRIPLE trophy is coveted by many, including the dominating Norwegians who have never won it before. Rehrl came close in Chaux-Neuve (FRA) last year. He had set two victories on the first days, only to be stopped by teammate Mario Seidl on the last day. If Rehrl can catch up those last crucial points on the jumping hill and ski in the same shape as last weekend, we might have another contender on our hands.