Walter Plaikner says goodbye to the “Azzurri”

Whenever the Olympic Games come around, Walter Plaikner gets wanderlust. At the last five Winter Olympics he has almost always looked after the host country. In 1998 in Nagano he was head coach of the Japanese, four years later in Salt Lake City he coached the Americans, and in 2006 the “Azzurri” in Turin. He only remained loyal to the local athletes at the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Now he will be responsible for the Russian team in Sochi next year.

“I will definitely change teams next year. But I haven't decided yet where I'm going. However, with 80% certainty I will go to Russia. They have already sent me the contract, but I haven't signed yet because some details still need to be clarified. I don't want to be on the road all year round. “I also received an offer from the team from the USA,” said Plaikner when asked by SportNews.

Kurt Brugger will probably take over the position of head coach of the Italian national luge team.

Plaikner is not only successful as a trainer

In addition to his long-standing coaching career, Plaikner can also look back on a successful career as an athlete: together with Paul Hildgartner, he made his breakthrough at the home World Championships in Olang in 1971, when the duo won gold in the doubles competition. In the same year, the duo from the municipality of Kiens also won the European Championship.

The highlight, however, came a year later when Plaikner and Hildgartner were crowned Olympic champions at the Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan. In 1973 the two finally secured bronze at the World Championships and in 1974 they climbed onto the highest podium again at the European Championships in Imst. Plaikner finally ended his career in 1976 after he and Hildgartner secured victory in the overall World Cup.

As a coach, the Puster native was particularly successful with Armin Zöggeler, whom he led to his second Olympic gold in Cesana in 2006 and bronze four years later in Vancouver. Under the leadership of the 61-year-old Kiener, the exceptional athlete from Völlan also increased his medal collection to 16 each World Cup and European Championship medals (individual and team) and was also crowned overall World Cup winner six times in a row from the 2005/2006 season.

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Walter Plaikner says goodbye to the “Azzurri”

There are still almost 300 days left until the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. However, the 61-year-old coach and former athlete from Kiens has already made the decision to take the reins as coach of another team next year .

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