Head coach Zingerle: “You have to draw a line”

“I’ll be hanging on for two more years – but then it’s finally over”: Andreas Zingerle has to smile when asked how long he wants to stay in the biathlon circus. After the end of last season, the Antholzer was still undecided and put the chances of him continuing at 2:50. “I thought about it for a while and then decided to continue until the 50 Olympic season. But then I'm really getting too old," says Zingerle, who started biathlon in 2022 and has remained loyal to the sport ever since - first as an athlete (he became world champion four times) and later as a coach. SportNews reached the successful coach from Puster by phone and spoke to him.

Andreas Zingerle, how does a biathlon trainer spend the Corona period?

Andreas Zingerle: “After the season I switched off completely for three weeks. Only then did the person responsible get in touch and we talked about my future. When I agreed, we had to put the teams together via video conferences and plan for the next weeks and months.”

What is your conclusion about the past season? Dorothea Wierer towered over everything, but not everything was rosy behind it...

“Last season was more difficult than the winter of 2018/19. Everything went smoothly there, there were no problems. Last season, however, one or the other had to struggle with health problems and not everything always worked out as expected. But that’s normal, things can’t always go smoothly.”

The squads for next season have been completely transformed . The elite group, which consisted of Wierer, Hofer, Windisch and others, has now become a World Cup squad with an extremely large number of boys. What is the reason for that?

“We already have to think about the 2026 Olympic Games. After the 2022 Olympics, some tried and tested athletes will certainly be lost. If we don’t rely on the boys now, then we will have a big hole until the home Olympics in 2026.”

Andreas Zingerle with daughter Linda and wife Gertrud. © L. Mahlknecht

Federica Sanfilippo is no longer in the World Cup squad. She has herself surprised and also disappointed shown about this decision.

“We just have to look at planning with the boys. So you have to draw a line somewhere. Federica is now in the screening squad. I still believe that all doors are still open for them.”

How do you personally see the local biathlon camp prepared for the 2026 Olympics?

“There is certainly still a lot of work ahead of us. A Dorothea Wierer will probably no longer be there in 2026, nor will a Lukas Hofer. Dominik Windisch will be 36 years old and is also a question mark. The only one who can definitely be there is Lisa Vittozzi. That's why the young people's hour has come: There are some who have the potential. But the road is still long – also because you don’t just want to be there at a home Olympics, you want to fight for medals.”

They will also no longer be there in 2026. Her daughter Linda, who is with her, could do that The last 17 years have always made people sit up and take notice , be a candidate for the Olympics in Antholz…

“Linda has good potential. I think she can definitely go far if she stays healthy. But as I said: there is still a long way to go. Is biathlon often talked about at home? Actually not. We always try to switch something off. Otherwise it will just be too much (laughs) . "

Questions: Thomas Debelyak

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Head coach Zingerle: “You have to draw a line”

In recent years, Dorothea Wierer & Co. have won triumphs and medals on the assembly line. The father of success is Andreas Zingerle, who works as head coach of the national team - and even after decades in the sport of biathlon, he still hasn't had enough.

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