A “forbidden love” in Austrian alpine skiing is currently causing quite a stir.
The Austrian ski racer Franziska Gritsch has fallen in love with her coach Florian Stengg. When the two made their relationship public, the ÖSV threw the coach out.
“This is not acceptable in the team. It is not a fair thing if a coach of a team has a private relationship with an athlete,” explained Alpine boss Herbert Mandl in the “Kurier” and continued: “The trust in this coach is in the team no longer there because his protégé is favored.”
Secretary General Christian Scherer spoke of an “amicable separation”. “We sorted it out amicably and wanted to consciously take precautions before it escalated,” he emphasized.
Gritsch has to organize training himself
Gritsch then announced on Monday that she would be leaving the Austrian association. “Always following your heart sometimes means taking new paths, often leaving your comfort zone and always taking courageous steps to follow your gut feeling and stay true,” she wrote on Instagram.
From now on, Gritsch will be training in a new training group. However, she will represent Austria widely in the World Cup. “Franziska will prepare independently, but remain a member of the squad. She will continue to follow the association’s clothing guidelines. We will also pay for her travel to the races and accommodation, but she will have to organize the training herself,” said Secretary General Scherer.
In the meantime, Stengg also spoke up. “We always had honest conversations,” said the former ski crosser to the “Kleine Zeitung” and admitted: “Of course we would have liked a different solution, but that was just not possible.”
The 34-year-old also emphasized that he doesn’t want to continue working with Gritsch for personal reasons: “We don’t just want to spend time together. It should go in the right direction in terms of sport.”
In terms of sport, things are looking up for the 26-year-old. “The media outcry was already big. But I am completely convinced by her and trust her to improve her performance,” said the coach.
Gritsch won the silver medal with the team at the 2019 Alpine World Ski Championships in Are. So far she has landed on the podium three times in the World Cup.