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Getty Images
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1.9
Marcel Hirscher leaves a huge gap.
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AFP
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9.2
The Austrian won the overall World Cup eight times in a row.
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Sven Thomann | Blicksport
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3.9
“The situation is serious,” says Armin Assinger.
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AFP
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8.9
Best woman from Austria: Katharina Liensberger.
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View sport
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9.9
Found brace approachable: Leonhard Stock, Olympic champion 1980.
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They are not used to that anymore, the Austrians: they drive behind. In the nation ranking of the Ski World Cup, the Swiss have now taken 670 points. For the first time in 30 years, the nation title should not remain in Austrian hands.
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A top athlete is missing after the resignation of long-time dominator Marcel Hirscher. In no single World Cup category is an Austrian at the top. Matthias Mayer is the 4th strongest Austrian in the overall World Cup. For women, Katharina Liensberger is number 10 in Ösi number one – with Wendy Holdener, Corinne Suter and Michelle Gisin, three Swiss women are in front of her. A disgrace for the proud ski nation.
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«A wide open hole»
“The situation is serious,” says ex-ski star Armin Assinger, who works for ORF today, at “Servus TV”. For the Austrian experts, it is clear: Superstar Hirscher covered the most serious problems until his resignation last summer.
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“A post-Hirscher depression” diagnoses Michael Schuen, sports director of the “Kleine Zeitung”. “It was clear that there would be a gap after Marcel,” says Assinger. “If everything had gone normally, the hole would never have been torn so far.”
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«First you have to win»
The injury problems in the ÖSV team would play a role. But the trend towards small training groups, which the long-time Dominator Hirscher founded, also plays its part. Assinger: «The association must be careful not to lead itself to the absurd. A spiral develops in the group, we pushed each other. First you have to win, then everyone can cook their own soup. »
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Other Ösi grandees see it that way too. «When I came in at that time, Franz Klammer was the idol for me. I had him at hand, I was able to train with him and go for a beer, »says Olympic champion Leonhard Stock. By contrast, Hirscher concentrated on himself, optimized training and support according to his own needs.
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