Roland Assinger has responded to the criticism. © APA / EXPA/JOHANN GRODER

“No children’s birthday party”: There’s a clash in Austria’s ski team

The World Cup season may have ended several weeks ago, but things are still bubbling inside Austria's ski team. It's a real buzz.

11 April 2025

From: det

The trigger for this was the statements of Stephanie Venier, the newly crowned Super-G World Champion. In an interview, she sharply criticized head coach Roland Assinger. “That’s how you lose the joy,” said the 31-year-old.

At the same time, she added: "It's about the way in which – if at all – we are communicated with. We are open to criticism, but it's always about the how. When it gets to the personal level, when a lot of girls are yelling, it hurts." With this, Venier also confirms the Statements by the resigned Tamara Tippler, who also didn't have a good word to say about Assinger.

Assinger answers – and is surprised

How does the head coach himself react? In an interview with ORF, Assinger expressed surprise at the statements. "Of course, I heard about it through the media, and in some cases, it was surprising. As we all know, this is a high-performance sport. And in high-performance sport, it's all about winning; that's what we're here for," Assinger said.

Assinger (center) with Stephanie Venier (right) and Mirjam Puchner. © APA / BARBARA GINDL

The coach adds: "On the other hand, in alpine skiing, you thunder down the slopes at 140 km/h; it's no picnic. That's precisely why it's so important to be 100 percent focused throughout the weeks." Assinger then addresses the successes at the home World Championships. "If someone wins a gold medal (Venier in the Super-G, editor's note) and, in that flow, also wins a bronze medal (Venier in the team combined), then not everything beforehand will have been bad in terms of the training methods, the preparation, and the coaching team."

Is Venier ending her career?

At the same time, Assinger also said: "If communication problems have arisen, they need to be discussed objectively. I'm happy to help with that." Asked whether he would change anything, the coach replied: "I don't want to comment any further."

Things are bubbling up inside Austria's ski team, especially because Stephanie Venier has left it open whether she will continue her career. So things remain exciting in the red-white-red ski nation – even though it's supposed to be on a break.