Pressure on Kriechmayr & Co: Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) wants two to three medals

Austria's male skiers have five medal opportunities at the Winter Olympics in Bormio.

February 05, 2026

From: apa

"You have to win two or three medals first. Then you have to be satisfied," said Austria's men's head coach Marko Pfeifer regarding the team's objective. In 2022 in China, the men's ski team contributed four and a half medals, including two golds won by Matthias Mayer and Johannes Strolz, as well as gold in the now-discontinued team event.

Pfeifer sees the best chances, given the season's progress, in the third race, the Super-G. For Saturday's downhill opener, hopes remain firmly on the shoulders of Vincent Kriechmayr. "The others are far from the podium, we have to be honest about that," said Pfeifer.

Marko Pfeifer is hoping for two to three medals. © APA / EXPA/ JOHANN GRODER

In downhill and slalom, the team is dependent on top athletes Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller, respectively. In giant slalom, Stefan Brennsteiner and Marco Schwarz have each secured one victory and one additional podium finish. In Super-G, however, the Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) fields a quartet of athletes – Kriechmayr, Schwarz, Stefan Babinsky, and Raphael Haaser – each of whom has already achieved podium finishes this winter.

Haaser already surprised last year

Coach Pfeifer is particularly counting on Haaser, the sensational 2025 giant slalom world champion, in the Super-G. "He's skiing no worse than last year. He's had his Super-G podium finishes, his giant slalom performances have been inconsistent, and he's still developing in downhill. For the big events, everything could come together perfectly for Raphi," said Pfeifer. "I could imagine him skiing a good downhill course. I'm not necessarily talking about medals, that would be a sensation. But this challenging downhill course could suit him."

After the downhill (7.2.) comes the team combined event (9.), in which a downhill skier and a slalom skier are combined. Following the Super-G (11.), the two technical events, giant slalom (14.) and slalom (16.), are on the program.

Keywords Winter sports Alpine skiing Austria OSV Olympics 2026