Andreas Widhoelzl new head coach of Austrian men's team

Shortly after Andreas Felder stepped down as head coach of the Austrian ski jumpers, a successor was now presented. The council of the Austrian Ski Association appointed Andreas Widhoelzl as the new coach of the Austrian men's team. The 43-year-old Tyrolean will start his new job immediately.
In the past two years, Widhoelzl successfully worked as coach of the training group II in Austria.

Harald Diess and Robert Treitinger, who were already working with Andreas Felder, will remain assistant coaches of the national team.

In his 15-year long career in the World Cup, Andreas Widhoelzl claimed a total of 18 individual and five team wins. He is one of the six most successful Austrian ski jumpers in history.
At the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, he won the bronze medal on the normal hill. In addition, he also took two bronze medals in team events at Olympic Games and Nordic World Championships. Widhoelzl also won two silver medals (individual) and one bronze medal (team) at Ski Flying World Championships. In the 1999/2000 season, Andreas Widhoelzl won the 4-Hills-Tournament.

Andreas Widhoelzl: "This is an honor for me. As an athlete, I learned from two very successful head coaches, Alex Pointner and Heinz Kuttin. Andreas Felder also did a good job recently. Now I want to continue this positive development and also bring new momentum. To me as a coach, the cooperation with the entire team is important. We will focus on our strengths, possible weaknesses are part of a development process. Fortunately our top jumpers have a huge potential and also the young athletes are pushing from behind. The current situation is especially difficult and challenging, but it's the same for everyone. Nevertheless, we will try to have a training plan for our athletes soon. The work starts now."

Mario Stecher, head of Ski Jumping at the Austrian Ski Association: "We willfully made the decision in favor of a younger coach. We will face the many, sporting challenges waiting for us in the future together now. With Andi Widhoelzl, we are perfectly prepared for this. In the past years, he did a great job already for the Austrian Ski Association and his success with the second team is proving it. As an athlete, he was always a good ski flyer, and this matches the current requirements in modern Ski Jumping."