South Tyroleans at the Olympics: Who is definitely in, who is uncertain?

Biathlon The men and women each have five starting places available for the Olympics, but no one has been officially nominated yet. Dorothea Wierer, however, is considered a sure thing; in addition to her victory in the individual race in Östersund, she finished third twice (in the sprint and pursuit in Annecy). Her ticket is confirmed, as are those of Lisa Vittozzi and Tommaso Giacomel.

Lukas Hofer and Rebecca Passler can likely plan for the home Olympics as well. Passler fought her way back into the World Cup from the IBU Cup and achieved career bests in Annecy with 13th place in the pursuit and 11th in the mass start. In the overall World Cup standings, she is the third-best Italian (30th/89 points). Hofer impresses with consistency: whenever the Montal native has been at the start, he has always finished in the points. Behind Giacomel, he is the most reliable Italian biathlete (24th/106 points).

Rebecca Passler can probably start planning for the Olympics. © Teyssot / Pierre TEYSSOT

The remaining tickets are uncertain: Hannah Auchentaller returns to the World Cup in Oberhof today after a break due to illness. She is competing with Samuela Comola and Michela Carrara, who, unlike her, have World Cup points, for one of the two remaining spots.

In the men's competition, Elia Zeni, Didier Bionaz, and Patrick Braunhofer from Ridnaun (who has yet to score any points) are in pole position for three more Olympic tickets. After Oberhof, the World Cups in Ruhpolding (January 14-18) and Nove Mesto (January 22-25) are still to come. Olympic nominations must be submitted by January 26.

Artificial track tobogganing Ahead of this weekend's World Cup in Winterberg, which concludes the Olympic qualification, the luge athletes hold eleven starting places for the Winter Games. Three of these are shared by the men's singles. Dominik Fischnaller, thanks to a fourth-place finish in Park City, is in twelfth place in the overall World Cup standings (116 points), followed by Leon Felderer (13th/112) and Alex Gufler (14th/101). Felderer celebrated his first career podium finish with third place in Park City, while Gufler has become a prolific point scorer. Lukas Peccei (25th/63) has only an outside chance of qualifying.

South Tyrol's star athlete: Dominik Fischnaller. © Photo Hermann Sobe / Hermann Sobe

The women have two starting places: Verena Hofer (9th/155) is considered a lock after her podium finish in Park City, while Sandra Robatscher (18th/90) and Nina Zöggeler (22nd/73) are battling it out for the spot. In the doubles, Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer (4th/180) have secured the only Italian place after their third-place finish in Sigulda, ahead of Nadia Falkensteiner and Annalena Huber (14th/97). The men are on track for two quota places: Ivan Nagler and Fabian Malleier, podium finishers in Park City, are ranked eighth with 175 points, ahead of Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner (12th/124).

Skeleton Manuel Schwärzer is not an option for the Olympics. He hasn't competed in a single World Cup race this season and also had a lackluster showing in the European Cup. The two Olympic spots currently available to Italy are held by Amedeo Bagnis and Mattia Gaspari; if Italy secures a third Olympic spot, Giovanni Marchetti would also be a possibility.

Bob Patrick Baumgartner from Puster Valley is Italy's number one. He's a confirmed pilot for the Olympics. In the two-man bobsleigh, he'll partner with Robert Mircea as brakeman/pusher. Baumgartner will also compete in the four-man bobsleigh with his experienced team of Mircea, Eric Fantazzini, and Lorenzo Bilotti. Baumgartner could be a serious contender for a medal. Alex Verginer from Val Badia, who also started the season as a pilot, is likely to qualify for the Olympics as well – but certainly not as a pilot, rather as a brakeman. Italy is expected to field two bobsleighs at the Olympics. At the beginning of the season, Mattia Variola and Verginer were also in contention for the second sled after Baumgartner. It appears that Variola will pilot the second sled, with Verginer serving as the brakeman.

Alpine Skiing As of today, only Nicol Delago has secured an Olympic berth in the downhill for the women. She needs to improve her performance this weekend in Zauchensee and then again in Tarvisio (January 17th). Her sister Nadia also needs to achieve top-eight finishes at these two events, otherwise she won't qualify. Sofia Goggia, Laura Pirovano, and Elena Curtoni are guaranteed spots in the speed disciplines. Goggia, along with Lara Della Mea and Asja Zenere, will also compete in the giant slalom.

Christof Innerhofer's Olympic qualification is likely to be tight. © ANSA / ANDREA SOLERO

And what about Federica Brignone? Everything indicates that the superstar will be fit enough for the Olympics to at least compete in the giant slalom. In the men's competition, Domme Paris and Florian Schieder have already secured their spots, while Christof Innerhofer, despite his sixth-place finish in the Super-G in Val Gardena, is likely to face stiff competition. Giovanni Franzoni, Guglielmo Bosca, and Mattia Casse are hot on his heels. The classic speed races in Wengen and Kitzbühel will be decisive. In the technical disciplines, Alex Vinatzer is a shoo-in, and Tobias Kastlunger can also hope for a ticket in the slalom and the Olympic combined event.

Ski jumping Italy's men's ski jumping team, currently holding three World Cup spots, could even hope for four at the Olympics. Two spots have already been secured, going to Alex Insam and Giovanni Bresadola from Val Gardena. Eighteen-year-old Maximilian Gartner (also from Val Gardena) still has a chance. He recently competed in the qualifying rounds at the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. While he didn't qualify, he gained valuable experience at the World Cup.

The women's ski jumping team has four spots. Jessica Malsiner from Val Gardena is likely to take one of them. Young Leonie Runggaldier (born in 2009) also participated in the recent World Cup qualifier in Villach and has a slim chance of making the cut.

Nordic combined The Nordic combined athletes currently have two spots. Samuel Costa from Val Gardena is virtually guaranteed a place. In the battle for the second starting spot, fellow Val Gardena athlete Aaron Kostner is currently ahead of Alessandro Pittin. Several World Cup stages remain until the end of January. Women are not included in the Olympic program, so star athlete Daniela Dejori will only be able to watch.

Cross Country Skiing Michael Hellweger's chances are now slim. The skier from Sarnen withdrew from the Tour de Ski after the first stage (the freestyle sprint in Toblach) due to back pain. He thus missed the final Olympic test event, the classic sprint in Val di Fiemme at the beginning of January. Italy's men's cross-country skiers are expected to have five Olympic starting places, with Federico Pellegrino being the only confirmed. Hellweger still has a minimal chance of securing an Olympic spot at the World Cup stages in Oberhof and Goms.

Snowboard While Omar Visintin is a shoo-in for the boardercross and aiming for his third (individual) and fourth (mixed team event) Olympic medals, the only parallel event, the giant slalom on February 7th, is extremely tight: Jasmin Coratti has secured her starting place in the women's race. In the men's event, Maurizio Bormolini and Aaron March are confirmed, and skiing legend Roland Fischnaller, after his 2025 World Championship title and recent victory at Karerpass-Carezza, also has a very good chance. However, Daniele Bagozza, Edwin Coratti, and Gabriel Messner still have plenty of opportunities in the four giant slalom races leading up to January 24th.

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South Tyroleans at the Olympics: Who is definitely in, who is uncertain?

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