Werner Schuster: "Gregor, you can't quit"

Gregor Schlierenzauer, measured by World Cup wins the most successful ski jumper in history, has been struggling to return to the top for years now. The last season he finished in the Top 10 of the overall World Cup was 2014/15. Now his former youth coach Werner Schuster shall help him to follow up on his previous success.

The Austrian ended his job as head coach of the German ski jumpers this spring after ten years and is now working together with Gregor Schlierenzauer again. "I have just been home for two or three days in April when he called. He had doubts, whether he will continue his career. And I said: Gregor - before we start talking - you can't quit. Ski Jumping is not your job, it's your passion! What's outstanding about his career is not that he is going through hard times, what's special is that he reached the top at age 16 and dominated Ski Jumping for nine years. Nobody has ever done that before. He is now 29, he's healthy, and if Kasai, who is over 40, can do it, why not him? I told him that I see no rational reason why he should not be able to jump well again and that I'll help him to make the right adjustments, there's no guarantee, but he has to try", that's how Schuster describes the beginning of this cooperation in an interview with the Austrian newspaper "Der Standard".

In this cooperation, which has already bore fruit with good performances this summer, among them a second place in the FIS Grand Prix in Hinterzarten, it's not only about the Ski Jumping technique itself. "One of my tasks was also to sort and structure his thinking. He got lost a little bit. He is a tinkerer, an athlete you wish for as a coach because he committs himself to the sport completely. He tried to close the gap to the world's elite with all kinds of ideas, also concerning the equipment. With my experience, I tried to sort things out. We had to find a basic level of his technique and toned down the whole equipment issue to some sort of a standard set-up in order to focus on the athlete again. Gregor needed some decluttering at first."

Due to their long history, Werner Schuster probably knows better than most that it can be difficult for a coach alongside an athlete like Gregor Schlierenzauer. "We actually found common ground regarding the technique pretty fast. But I also want to side with my colleagues. At a certain point, Gregor didn't really accept and allow help. It was difficult for every coach, but I had some kind of advantage at the beginning because he wanted to work with me. Maybe he listened to me a couple of days or weeks longer than to the others. With him you are constantly tested. Because he is so meticulous and fastidious you always need answers when he has an idea. He expects a lot from himself and he projects that on the people around him. Not everyone can keep up with that", Schuster is quoted on derstandard.at.

One reason, why Werner Schuster didn't extend his contract in Germany was that he didn't want to travel that much anymore. The father of two sons wants to spend more time at home. As coach of Gregor Schlierenzauer he will not be on site at every World Cup event. "My wish would be that he competes in the World Cup from start to finish, that he does well and is among the world's best again. And that I'll be available for a training or an analysis at times - as an outside voice. If it doesn't work that way, then it doesn't work."