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15. 03. 10. - 11:00

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15. 03. 10. - 11:00

Calls for ÖSV reform as poor World Cup season ends

Calls for reforms within the Austrian Skiing Association (ÖSV) have been made after a disappointing World Cup season ended yesterday (Sun).

Austria came third in yesterday’s team event won by the Czech Republic ahead of Switzerland which took place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

But what hurt athletes and fans much more was the comparably weak performance of the whole team in the 2009/2010 season.

Reinfried Herbst’s slalom World Cup victory and Benjamin Raich’s first place in the combined World Cup were the only season trophies Austrian skiers bagged this winter.

Raich, who won the overall World Cup in 2006, finished second in this winter’s overall World Cup behind Swiss star Carlo Janka. Raich made the top three in every season since 1998. But the Tyrolean failed to win any medals at last month’s Olympic Games after snatching two gold medals in Turin in 2006.

No female Austrian skier managed to win a discipline World Cup trophy. Kathrin Zettel was best Austrian as fifth in the overall World Cup won by US star Lindsey Vonn.

The final female downhill races table draws an especially sad picture for Austria as Andrea Fischbacher is best Austrian in just 15th. The Salzburg-based skier however caused the highlight of the season for Austria by sensationally winning gold in the Olympic Super-G.

ÖSV boss Peter Schröcksnadel announced plans to restructure the training groups network, but dismissed calls to sack coaches. He claimed they were not to blame if skiers miss out on Olympic medals by a few hundredths of a second.

Critics meanwhile argue Austria had relied on the "golden generation" around Hermann Maier, Stephan Eberharter, Renate Götschl, Michaela Dorfmeister and Alexandra Meissnitzer for too long and at the same time neglected focus on young talent. No other skiing federation in the world has a bigger budget than the ÖSV.

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