Israel, Hungary, South Tyrol: The Szöllös family brings color to the World Ski Championships

A Hungarian family with roots in Israel, who grew up primarily in Austria and now trains in South Tyrol. Barnabas, Benjamin and their sister Noa Szöllös are traveling as exotics at the World Ski Championships in France. The ski family competing for Israel has clear goals and is not (just) taking part in the World Championships in Courchevel and Meribel for fun.

The “hyperactive” Barnabas Szöllös only takes two days off at the World Cup. The all-rounder knows Israel primarily from his vacation (“We’ll definitely fly down again in the summer.”). With his long hair and Israeli racing suit, Barnabas Szöllös is already an unmistakable figure in Courchevel. If the heavy metal fan unpacks his fluent German with a clearly Austrian coloring, it is finally clear who he is dealing with. Apart from next Monday and Tuesday, the Budapest-born Hungarian will play every day. Alpine combination, downhill training, Super-G, downhill training, downhill, the technical competitions including the associated qualifying races - Szöllös could have eaten up the most kilometers of slopes of all athletes at the World Ski Championships. Barnabas Szöllös took 34th place in the Super-G. © ANSA / GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

And Szöllös is not bad in terms of sport. In the World Cup Combined he finished eleventh and in the Super-G he was 34th. In Cortina d'Ampezzo in the World Cup he also narrowly missed the points by finishing 34th in the Super-G. At the 2022 Olympic Games, “Barni” had already attracted the attention of the media in Israel by finishing sixth in the combination. “But I wouldn’t say it’s a big sport there,” laughs Szöllös. Sister Noa (18) won silver and bronze (combination, super-G) at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games.

The great-grandmother survived Auschwitz - training at Kronplatz The opportunity to start for the country in the Middle East opened up family history. Father Peter Szöllös, whose grandmother was an Auschwitz survivor, drove for Israel in the 1990s and then coached the national team. After disputes a few years ago with the Hungarian association (“It didn’t work there the way we wanted”), the change of nation was made. There isn't even a national ski association in Israel. “It’s all through the Olympic Committee.”

Often the Szöllös children have not yet been to the country that they represent in sports. “I was there before the Olympic Games for the sports tests and also on vacation,” revealed Barnabas Szöllös. “The training takes place all year round, summer and winter, on the glacier. So we don't have many options.” Training takes place mainly in South Tyrol with the trainers from the Kronplatz Racing Center. “There are a lot of racers there who don’t actually have a big national team. We work together on that.” Noa Szöllös – like her brothers – starts for Israel. She finished 29th in the World Cup Super-G. © ANSA / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT

The siblings learned to ski after the family moved to Austria. “First we went to kindergarten in Vienna, then in Murau, where there is this secondary ski school, then we went to school in Waidhofen on the Ybbs. So actually we were in Austria more than anywhere else,” explained Szöllös, who still lives in Murau.

He, Noa and older brother Benjamin (26) don't want to give up their dream of skiing any time soon. The end of the combination at major events would hit them hard. “For us, the small nations, the combination is a very big opportunity. There are fewer runners, so we can start at the front and show what we can do,” explained Szöllös. With Saalbach-Hinterglemm, a home World Cup awaits in 2025. “I have often been racing in Saalbach, at the Austrian championships. So I know the slope. That will be funny."

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Israel, Hungary, South Tyrol: The Szöllös family brings color to the World Ski Championships

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