Ski trainer Peter Fill. © Pentaphoto

Ski coach Peter Fill: All's well that ends well.

A report about Peter Fill and his coaching career with the Italian Winter Sports Federation caused quite a stir two months ago. But now everything has changed.

August 01, 2026

From: det

It was news that caused great surprise in the world of winter sports. When Italy's winter sports federation FISI published its squad lists for the upcoming season at the end of May, Peter Fill, a prominent name, was missing. The Kastelruther, who has done a good job as a coach in recent years, was no longer considered.

Fill himself was also very surprised by the news, especially since there had already been concrete discussions about what coaching role the 43-year-old former skier would play in the upcoming season. Now the national team's first training sessions have taken place – and lo and behold: Peter Fill is back in the fold after all.

That's what Peter Fill says

“As I said back then: I didn’t know why I was no longer listed as a coach for the national team. We had actually agreed on everything. Apparently, the president (Flavio Roda, ed.) didn’t like some things. But some of my colleagues insisted that I stay on board. In the end, it wasn’t long before I was reinstated to the coaching staff,” Fill said when asked by SportNews.

Fill is back as part of the coaching team.

The two-time downhill globe winner has now even landed in his natural habitat: For the first time in his coaching career, he is working with downhill skiers. Previously, Fill was mainly active with technical skiers. "It's not a big change for me. I already know most of the athletes, and I've even raced with some of them," said Fill.

"One thing is fundamental: building trust with the athletes." Peter Fill

The coach from Kastelruth is the only new addition to the team of Italian downhill skiers, which includes athletes such as Christof Innerhofer, Mattia Casse, and Florian Schieder. Rising star Giovanni Franzoni also joins them from time to time. "One thing is fundamental right now: building trust with the athletes. A downhill skier has to be able to trust the coach implicitly: if I say that he can go all out on this or that section, then the athlete has to know that it's the right thing to do."

Staudacher is also participating again.

Incidentally, besides Fill, another prominent coach's name was missing from the squad list: Patrick Staudacher. However, his situation has also been resolved. The former Super-G world champion will join the downhill team in October. As they say, all's well that ends well!