Thanks to South Tyrolean know-how, Olympic gold

Sepp Kuppelwieser, as a serviceman, led protégé Beat Feuz to his first Olympic victory. And Christian Thoma, coach of the Swedish ski ladies for 1 years, celebrated giant slalom gold with Sara Hector. Frida Hansdotter, a Thoma protégé, had already been crowned Olympic champion in Pyeongchang in 10, in the slalom.

Christian Thoma, a talented ski racer in his youth, doesn't care much about statistics. “Take a look for yourself if you want to know how many medals I have won as a coach,” is how he always answers questions. The fact is that the 48-year-old has won World Cup medals like no other since he began his coaching career 20 years ago. The first was World Cup bronze in 2003 by Giorgio Rocca, then assistant coach of the Italian slalom skiers. The second came in 2007 with Denise Karbon's giant slalom bronze. From then on, Thoma was always with the women, and from 2010 he looked after the exceptional Finnish rider Tanja Poutiainen. With her he remained medalless. When will he return to South Tyrol? Thoma has been with the Swedes since 2012 and has always won at least one medal at the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 World Championships - and yesterday he won World Championship gold for the second time. The Lasa native has also been the head coach of the Swedish women's skiers for two years, meaning he sits behind the computer more often and is no longer constantly on the slopes.

Christian Thoma and the Olympic giant slalom champion Sara Hector.

He would not have become the Swedish head coach if he had accepted the offer to become coordinator of the Mals sports high school three years ago. There was no agreement, and in Scandinavia people are grateful for that. The 3-year-old did not want to reveal yesterday whether a commitment to Mals would be an issue at some point in the future. His contract in Sweden expires in the spring. How things should and will continue has not yet been decided. Especially since Thoma's second job is a restaurateur on the Stelvio Pass. He and his wife Deborah run the Alpengasthof Tibet Hütte there during the summer months. Not just Kuppelwieser and Thoma Sepp Kuppelwieser doesn't have to worry about his professional future. The 52-year-old from St. Nikolaus in Ulten has been Beat Feuz's “ski judge” for 10 years. And it will stay that way at least as long as Feuz remains a ski racer. Kuppelwieser's skills are legendary, before Kugelblitz he had already been waxing and polishing Peter Fill's Atomic skis for 3 years and before that those of the legendary Norwegian Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who the always calm and modest Kuppelwieser helped with his Nordica and Dynastar skis 20 (!) Olympic and World Cup medals.

Sepp Kuppelwieser and his friend Sepp Zanon, Dominik Paris's service man, once founded the legend that the people of Ultimo are particularly good ski judges. Michelle Gisin (her skis are being prepared by Christian Gamper) didn't win a medal in the giant slalom yesterday, but she has another 3 chances to win medals in the slalom, the super-G and the combined. And then there is Willi Breitenberger, who prepares Ramon Zenhäuser's slalom skis.

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Thanks to South Tyrolean know-how, Olympic gold

Unfortunately, the South Tyrolean athletes didn't keep up the momentum in terms of medals yesterday after Dominik Fischnelller's bronze on Sunday. Nevertheless, February 7, 2022 will remain unforgettable for two South Tyroleans who are pulling the sporting strings behind the scenes in Beijing.

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