No World Cup starter again: Is South Tyrol's athletics in crisis?

Mr. Cappello, the World Athletics Championships will take place in London in August. The last World Cup participation by a South Tyrolean was in South Korea in 2011. There has been no local athlete in the “Azzurri” squad for three editions. Why is that? We are currently experiencing a generational change in the local athletics scene. Now that top athletes like Christian Obrist and Monika Niederstätter have retired from competitive sports, we have to take a little time again. A World Cup is something big and in order to take part in it, you have to reach a certain level of sporting maturity beforehand. A track and field athlete does not reach peak performance until around the age of 24. In order to have internationally competitive athletes, it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. The qualification standards for a World Cup are also very selective. The best proof of this is the Merano discus thrower Hannes Kirchler, who, despite his 13 Italian championship titles, did not reach the standard for this year's World Championships in London.

How does South Tyrol compare to the other regions in Italy? We work on the same level as the other regions. The big difference is that we are simply a small province. In this sense, we cannot compare ourselves with Lombardy, for example, which can get its athletes from a larger “pot”. Our young athletics talent is doing very well in a national comparison. Although we are small, we have a relatively high performance density.

What can we expect from South Tyrolean athletics in the next few years? We will soon reap the rewards and I am definitely confident. In the not too distant future we will be able to count on top athletes again. Our main focus in recent years has been on youth development, which is particularly complex in athletics. Our sport combines many disciplines. So that we can develop as best and evenly as possible in all disciplines, we constantly train new trainers. Trainer training also takes time. A trained coach is the prerequisite for shaping top athletes.

Questions: Alex Facchini

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No World Cup starter again: Is South Tyrol's athletics in crisis?

The World Athletics Championships will take place in London between August 4th and 13th. Not a single South Tyrolean will take part in the 47 decisions. SportNews asked the President of the South Tyrolean Athletics Association, Bruno Cappello, why.

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