Andreas Felder steps down as Austrian head coach

After two years, Andreas Felder ends his job as head coach of the Austrian Ski Jumping team. The 58-year-old decided this together with the head of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in the Austrian Ski Association, Mario Stecher. The decision was made by mutual consent.

Felder, who won 25 World Cups in his career and is one of the most successful ski jumpers in history, is a father of three. After the birth of his youngest daughter this February, he will now not be able to balance spending time with his family and the tasks of a head coach.

Andreas Felder was already coaching the Austrian ski jumpers from 1995 to 1997, now he took the challenging job as head coach in April 2018 after a mediocre Olympic season. In the last two winters, the team achieved a total of 40 World Cup podiums, including eleven wins. At the World Championships in Seefeld 2019 the Austrian athletes claimed three medals and this winter, Stefan Kraft won his second overall World Cup title. The team of Andreas Felder finished second in the Nations Cup.

The Austrian Ski Association regrets Andreas Felder's decision to leave but thanks him for his work and understands this step.

Andreas Felder: "The job as head coach of the Austrian ski jumpers is a task that requires you to give your all and it is very demanding. For me, it's currently not possible to balance this with my family life. The past two years were very rewarding for me. Fortunately, we were also successful.  I want to thank everyone who was with me along the way and I'm looking forward to future tasks. I also want to wish my successor all the best."

Mario Stecher: "The Austrian Ski Association and myself cannot thank Andreas Felder enough. Two years ago he took charge of the team in a difficult situation and he was able to successfully change the trend. He deserves the utmost respect. Now we have to look ahead and set the course for the upcoming years. There are many highlights in front of us, like the Nordic World Championships in Oberstdorf, the Ski Flying World Championships in Planica and the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. We now have to find the right coaching staff for this."