Still going strong at 45: Roland Fischnaller. © ANSA / ALEX PLAVEVSKI

From South Tyrolean solo entertainers and large teams

Italy's Winter Sports Federation (FISI) recently announced its squads for the upcoming season. SportNews has already examined the Alpine skiing and biathlon squads. Now it's the turn of the remaining sports, with two standing out.

June 01, 2026

From: dl

Im Artificial track tobogganing South Tyrol provides by far the most athletes in the World Cup squad, with a total of 14. These are Leon Felderer, Dominik Fischnaller, Alex Gufler, Simon Kainzwaldner, Fabian Malleier, Ivan Nagler, Lucas Peccei, Emanuel Rieder, Nadia Falkensteiner, Verena Hofer, Annalena Huber, Marion Oberhofer, Andrea Vötter, and Nina Zöggeler – that is, eight men and six women.

The clear runner-up is... Parallel snowboarding with eight South Tyroleans. Here, however, the ratio is quite different, with seven men and only one woman. Jasmin Coratti from Vinschgau is the only South Tyrolean woman, while the men's World Cup squad includes Daniele Bagozza, Edwin Coratti, Roland Fischnaller, Aaron March, Gabriel Messner, Tommy Rabanser, and Mike Santuari. It is particularly remarkable that Fischnaller and March, at 45 and 40 years old respectively, still possess this hunger.

The small teams

Im Snowboard cross Omar Visintin, however, remains the only representative from South Tyrol. The same applies to Maria Gasslitter in the Freestyle, Dominik Zuech in Ski cross or Aaron Costner in the Nordic combinationIn these sports, there have been retirements, with Rene Monteleone, Yanick Gunsch, and Samuel Costa all retiring. Particularly noteworthy: Kostner is the only Italian to be part of the Nordic Combined World Cup team.

Alone in the field: Aaron Kostner is the only Italian in the World Cup squad. © ANSA / HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

Im Ski jumping Alex Insam and Lara Malsiner, both from Val Gardena, are proudly representing South Tyrol. Malsiner is on the verge of her comeback after missing the Olympic season due to a torn cruciate ligament. Bob Patrick Baumgartner from Puster Valley and Alex Verginer from Val Badia are both represented in the A-squad. Cross-country skiing Not a single South Tyrolean belongs to the first rank.