ALPINE WORLD CUP. In contrast to the previous year, there have been quite a few changes in the coaching ranks of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup teams after this season, which was to be expected at the end of an Olympiad. Please find below a summary of those that have come to the attention of the FIS Newsflash so far:

In the USA, veteran U.S. Ski Team coach Jim Tracy stepped down as the ladies head coach. He will be succeeded by Alex Hoedlmoser who has spent six seasons leading the program's speedsters. Chip White was named the ladies' speed head coach whilst Mike Day will be the men's alpine technical head coach. Day moves in for Rudi Soulard, who took a position as ladies' head tech coach for Sweden.

Another major piece of news comes from Austria that snatched Mathias Berthold, formerly head coach of the successful German ladies team, to take over the Austrian men's team. The Austrian Berthold replaces Toni Giger after 11 years as head coach. Tyrolean Andreas Puelacher, previously with the Swiss men's European Cup team, also returns home to serve as the new World Cup combination group coach, while Walter Hlebayna will be responsible for the European Cup team.

The German ladies team will be coached by former head coach of the Swedish team, Swiss Thomas Stauffer, who is replacing Berthold.
In Switzerland, the main changes include the departure of Hugues Ansermoz, who is returning to Canada's ladies alpine ski team after spending four seasons with the Swiss ski team. He will be replaced by Mauro Pini, who switches from the Swiss men's team to become head coach for the ladies. Pini has recruited Frenchman Lionel Finance as coach for the technical disciplines. The 43-year-old Finance was head coach of the Canadian speedsters during the last four years.

Roland Platzer succeeds Pini as coach for the Swiss men's World Cup group 1. In addition, Reto Nydegger, last season's coach of the technical ladies World Cup team, replaces Austria-bound Andi Puelacher to become group coach for the men's European Cup team. Christian Brüesch will coach the ladies on the European Cup.

Up North, Niklas Carlsson is taking over from Anders Sundquist as Sweden's head of Alpine, whilst Sundquist succeeds Thomas Stauffer as national head coach. The Swedish ladies' team will be led by Thomas Sjodin. Rudi Soulard, originally from France now living in Linköping (SWE), replaces Anders Carlsson as ladies head tech coach. Magnus Larsson, from Torsby, will move up to the World Cup team from coaching the junior team.

In Norway, Marius Arnesen, who was very successful with the Norwegian Alpine men during the past five years, has decided to retire to spend more time with family. His successor with the World Cup team is 30-year-old Håvard Tjørhom. Tjørhom will be working closely with Franz Gamper, the men's technical coach, and a new speed coach who will be in place shortly.

The new head coach for the Finnish men will be Janez Slivnik of Slovenia who succeeds Christian Leitner. Leitner has moved on to coach the Japanese men's team instead. Slivnik has worked with the Finnish ladies team for the past three years. His previous position will now be filled with Italian-born Christian Thoma who has worked with Italy's ladies World Cup team for many years.

Last but not least, the Canadians have made some changes to their Alpine structure to ensure continued momentum as they shift the focus to a new Olympic cycle. Whilst Max Gartner has moved up into a more overall management responsibility, Patrick Riml has assumed the position of Alpine Director at Alpine Canada. Swiss, Hugues Ansermoz has returned to Canada after a stint in his home country Switzerland.

Contributed by Sandra Kühni
FIS news
5/05/2010

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