Medal maker Sigi Klotz: A future coach for the Alpine team?

For Kopaonik, this is their World Cup debut, and the preparations are correspondingly complex. Sigi Klotz explains: “We celebrated our gold and silver medals in Livigno, of course, but not for too long. On Sunday, we packed up and drove to Milan, on Monday we boarded a plane to Belgrade, and from there we traveled another four hours by minibus to Kopaonik.”

Ahead of the two upcoming inaugural World Cups in Serbia, Sigi Klotz is reflecting on the historic ski cross Saturday. The former downhill skier is still speechless. He simply says: "Incredible, just unbelievable. Bringing home a medal was already a concrete goal. But to get two – unbelievable! Especially when I think back to the training session on race day that morning. Dominik Zuech was skiing well, Federico Tomasoni reasonably well, but Simone Deromedis was completely out of sorts. I had a bad feeling about it."

But then luck intervened. The quarterfinal lineup, with four skiers each, meant that the three Italians, Zuech, Deromedis, and Tomasoni, faced the overwhelming favorite, Reece Howden from Canada. It was three against one. Due to the heavy snowfall and extremely slow course ("the qualifying times were ten seconds faster," according to Klotz), the Canadian's strengths were completely negated. He also miscalculated his starting position. It was clear: Deromedis started on the inside and decisively used this advantage. While Zuech had bad luck and a poor start, Tomasoni also overtook Howden and held onto the lead. The completely bewildered Canadian was ultimately overtaken by Zuech as well. Klotz commented: "That showed how valuable teamwork is. But that's what has characterized us for years. We're a small, extremely cohesive team. Everyone pulls together. That was also a cornerstone of our two medals." And he adds: “We were incredibly frustrated because we couldn’t train on our home track in Livigno before the other nations. The reason was that the track wasn’t finished until the end of January. So it was decided to hold two joint training days on February 2nd and 3rd. So much for home advantage.” Simone Deromedis (right) and Federico Tomasoni. © ANSA / SERGEI ILNITSKY

That a favorite still managed a victory on the powder-covered slope, where progress was nearly impossible, didn't surprise Klotz: "Simone Deromedis is a huge talent. His ambition, his 100-kg physique full of muscle, and his constant drive to improve make him exceptional." The coach from Pawigl still remembers well how they met: "I switched from downhill skiing to ski cross in 2016. I paid for the first year out of my own pocket, and who did I end up sleeping with at the first training camp at the Stelvio Pass? That's right, Simone. At 16, he simply knocked on the door of the national ski cross team and asked if he could train with them. That's how it all started."

And Federico Tomasoni, who had never stood on the podium of a World Cup race before the Olympics? "He often takes it a bit easy in training, doesn't push himself too hard. I've always had a lot of faith in him, but he's also thrown away many races carelessly. He's a Bode-Miller type, takes everything rather lightly. As an athlete, he still has room for improvement, but as a person, he's fantastic, simply a lovable guy."

Sigi Klotz: A coaching candidate for the Alpine team? Siegmar Klotz has been a coach for the national ski cross team since spring 2022. Together with Bartolomeo Pala, he has guided Simone Deromedis to become a World Cup winner, then a World Champion (2023), and now an Olympic champion. Jole Galli has also become a podium finisher, and last year, Galli won bronze in the team combined event at the World Championships alongside Yanick Gunsch. Doesn't this attract interest from other skiers, perhaps even from the national ski team? Siegmar Klotz: A coach for alpine skiing?

“I never thought about it, and there was never any reason to talk about it. I only know that FISI President Flavio Roda was recently at our World Cup races. There's an exchange with ski racing director Max Carca; he often lets some of his racers train with us in the summer. Domme Paris also trained with us last summer in Chile. But I feel very comfortable here, the performances are excellent, and we have a great team. That's also the main reason why a team functions well.”

More ski crossers? Difficult. And what needs to happen to increase the number of ski cross athletes in the future? Klotz: "It's extremely difficult. It seems to me that children and teenagers often much prefer skiing on rollers and jumps to slalom training. But there's a lack of willingness among the regional associations to establish a state-level squad. Only Trentino has one. Many coaches are probably afraid of losing their kids to ski cross if they train that discipline. There are also safety concerns, and slope construction isn't without its challenges. There's a significant difference between building a course for a World Cup event and simply putting up a few rollers and jumps in a ski resort."

And points to the countless ski cross beginner slopes in the South Tyrolean ski resorts, which are among the most used – 95 percent by children and teenagers who have a great time there.

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Medal maker Sigi Klotz: A future coach for the Alpine team?

When we caught up with Siegmar Klotz for a phone interview, he was on the slopes in Kopaonik, a ski resort 275 kilometers south of Belgrade. The next Ski Cross World Cups are scheduled there for Friday and Saturday.

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