German Ski Federation restructures Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping sections

The German Ski Federation (DSV) has announced a restructuring of their Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping leadership team.

Long-standing Sports Director Horst Hüttel will change to a newly created role of "Team Manager" for the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined national teams. His successor as Sports Director will be Sepp Buchner, who was the federation's responsible development coach until now. Buchner’s old role will be filled by Christoph Klumpp, who, in turn, has been charge of the student age groups in the federation.

“With this structural reordering in the disciplines of Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping, we are reacting to the changing demands of international high-performance sports. The framework regarding technology developments, medical treatment and internal personnel development demanded by our national coaches and also internationally has to be individualised and developed to the point. Only then will top performances remain possible,” Karin Orgeldinger, division head for Nordic Sports and Biathlon says. “On top of that, we took this step also with the background of the International Ski Federation developing Nordic Combined for women and the creation of an Women's World Cup tour.”

Hüttel, who had been leading both disciplines as Sports Director in the last 11 years, was an important building block in the success of German teams in both disciplines. “As a Sports Director for two disciplines, it became harder and harder for me to satisfy the demands of high performance sports but also to keep an eye on the entire system with all its facets. We therefore decided to split the responsibility between more people. I have already worked closely with Sepp Buchner in the past and I expect this good cooperation to continue. He knows the system and the protagonists very well, so a smooth transition can be guaranteed”.

Sepp Buchner is looking forward to the new challenge: “I am convinced that this change is necessary. It is a fascinating challenge to develop the entire system even more efficiently and in close cooperation with national coaches Stefan Horngacher and Hermann Weinbuch. Next to these sport-specific topics, a close connection to the regional ski associations will also be part of my duties.”