Austrians kick off summer training in Italy

The Austrian ski jumpers started their preparation for the new season with a training camp in Italy from Sunday to Thursday.

Hiking and climbing tours were on the schedule for Clemens Aigner, Philipp Aschenwald, Michael Hayboeck, Jan Hoerl, Daniel Huber, and Stefan Kraft and besides physical training, the focus in Arco was also on teambuilding, courage and resolve.

Gregor Schlierenzauer and Manuel Fettner were not taking part in this camp, both are training individually and will only join the team of head coach Andreas Felder and the new assistants Robert Treitinger and Harald Diess occasionally.

"We had a very good start of the training period. The focus was on climbing, which was a bit of a challenge for the athletes. I have a very good feeling regarding the chemistry within the team. The cooperation with the two new coaches Robert Treitinger and Harald Diess is working great so far. Everyone is very motivated and focused", said Andreas Felder.

Stefan Kraft was also satisfied with the first days together as a team this season: "Of course, having some free time was really nice, but now it was really cool to have an exhausting, sporty training camp again together. I definitely gained lots of new experiences in climbing. What I can say for sure is that we have a great team and the entire group is getting along great. There's really good energy in the team."

The Austrians are planning to hold the next training camps in Planica (SLO) and Bischofshofen (AUT) early June.