Austrian ski jumpers enjoy first training camp

The Austrian ski jumpers are on their first joint training camp of the summer together with head coach Andreas Widhoelzl this week.

Stefan Kraft, Gregor Schlierenzauer, Michael Hayboeck, Philipp Aschenwald, Daniel Huber, and Jan Hoerl traveled to Carinthia just as the coaches and athletes of the second and third training groups of the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV).

"The first training camp is going very well. Everyone is working with joy and enthusiasm. The team is getting closer. Of course, Ski Jumping is on our schedule, but it's not the main part here in Faak. We have many possibilities for other activities and we want to seize them. For example, we did freestyle-water ski jumping, something that I have already made positive experiences with. It's about extending your own comfort zone. In addition, we had individual conversations and did some planning", said Andreas Widhoelzl, who took over the position of head coach earlier this spring from Andreas Felder.

Last winter's overall World Cup winner Stefan Kraft is happy, that everything finally gets going again after the long break: "It's great that we can finally all meet again. We would love to hug each other, but we won't do that just yet for safety reasons. But the atmosphere is cool. It is good for everyone to have a change of scenery again and get to travel. I also think that my girlfriend is probably happy to get me out of the house for a couple of days again. The jumps are also pretty good already."

His teammate Gregor Schlierenzauer is also glad that the preparation for the upcoming tasks started again now: "It's good to be here in Carinthia with the team. I've hardly ever been at home for so long, as I have been now due to Corona. I think that we already got together as a team. The communication is going well and you have the feeling that we are a really tight group. It's always beautiful here in Faak am See and there are lots of conversations. It's kind of like the start signal for the new season."