Olympics: Which South Tyroleans are participating?

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

They can probably also plan for a home Olympics. Lukas hofer and Rebecca Passler The latter fought her way back from the IBU Cup into the World 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).

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 have secured eleven starting places for the Winter Games. Three of these are shared between the men's singles teams. Dominik Filehner Thanks to a fourth place in Park City, he is in twelfth place in the overall World Cup standings (116 points), followed by Leon Felderer (13./112) and Alex Gufler (14th/101). Felderer celebrated his first career podium finish with third place in Park City, while Gufler became a prolific points scorer. Lukas Peccei (25th/63) now only has an outside chance.

Marion Oberhofer and Andrea Vötter aim to cause a sensation in Cortina. © Josef Plaickner

The women have two starting places: Verena Hofer (9./155) is considered a shoo-in after her podium finish in Park City; behind her, the following are dueling: Sandra Robatscher (18./90) and Nina Zöggeler (22nd/73rd). In the doubles, they Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer (4th/180) secured the only qualifying spot for the Italian women after their third-place finish in Sigulda, ahead of Nadia Falkensteiner and Annalena Huber (14th/97). The men are on track for two qualifying spots: Ivan Nailer and Fabian Malleier , podium finishers in Park City, are in eighth place in the ranking with 175 points, ahead of Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner (12./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 The Pusterer Patrick Baumgartner He is Italy's number one. He is a confirmed pilot for the Olympics. In the two-man bobsleigh, he will compete with Robert Mircea as pusher/brakeman. Baumgartner will also be competing in the four-man bobsleigh with his proven team of Mircea, Eric Fantazzini, and Lorenzo Bilotti. Baumgartner could be a serious contender for the medals. The Val Badia native Alex Verginer Baumgartner, 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 bobsleds at the Olympics. At the beginning of the season, Mattia Variola and Verginer were also in contention for the second bobsled after Baumgartner. It appears that Variola will pilot the second bobsled, with Verginer serving as the brakeman.

Alpine Skiing As of today, only the women have Nicol Delago She has secured an Olympic ticket in the downhill. She needs to improve her performance this weekend in Zauchensee and then again in Tarvisio (January 17th). Her sister Nadia also needs to capitalize on these two opportunities with top-eight finishes, 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. And Federica Brignone? Everything indicates that the superstar will be fit enough for the Olympics to at least compete in the giant slalom.

Among the men, Domme Paris and Florian Schieder With his ticket secured, Christof Innerhofer, despite his sixth-place finish in the Super-G in Val Gardena, is likely to face a tight race. Giovanni Franzoni, Guglielmo Bosca, and Mattia Casse are hot on his heels. The speed classics in Wengen and Kitzbühel will be decisive. In the technical disciplines... Alex Vinatzer Tobias Kastlunger is also guaranteed a ticket in the slalom and the Olympic combined. Ski jumping Italy's men's ski jumping team, who currently hold three World Cup spots, can even hope for four at the Olympics. Two spots have already been awarded, namely to the athlete from Val Gardena. Alex Insam and Giovanni Bresadola. Even the 18-year-old Maximilian Gartner (also from Val Gardena) still has a chance. He recently competed in the qualifying rounds of the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. Although he didn't qualify, he got his first taste of World Cup competition. The women's ski jumping team has four spots. One of them is likely to go to the woman from Val Gardena. Jessica Malsiner to prove it. The young Leonie Runggaldier (born in 2009) also participated in the recent World Cup qualifier in Villach and can realistically expect a small chance of success.

Nordic combined The Nordic combined athletes currently have two spots. The Val Gardena native Samuel Costa He's practically there. In the battle for the second starting spot, the other Val Gardena native, Aaron Kostner, currently has the edge over Alessandro Pittin. Several World Cup stages remain until the end of January. Women are not represented 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 Während Omar Visintin While he is a shoo-in for boardercross and is aiming for his third (individual) and fourth (mixed team event) Olympic medals, everything is extremely close in the only parallel event on February 7th in the giant slalom: In the women's event, Jasmin Coratti their starting place is secured. In the men's category, Maurizio Bormolini and Aaron March fixed, also Brettl legend Roland Fischller After his 2025 World Championship title and his recent victory at Karerpass-Carezza, he has very good chances. But also Daniele Bagozza , Edwin Coratti and Gabriel Messner They still have plenty of chances in the four giant slalom races up to January 24th.

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Olympics: Which South Tyroleans are participating?

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