While the German women are among the best in the world in cross-country sprinting, the DSV men are lacking in this discipline. But there are bright spots and great hopes.
“All in all I am satisfied“, was the conclusion of national cross-country coach Peter Schlickenrieder after the sprint decisions at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica. Laura Gimmler had advanced to the semi-finals and two other DSV women were represented in the quarter-finals. But the performance was almost more surprising by Janosch Brugger, who also survived the qualification – for the first time this winter. “If you can do that at the high point of the season, that’s really cool” was his conclusion after the race.
Especially since Brugger does not see himself as a sprinter at all, he is at home in the middle distance of up to ten kilometers. That’s what he’s focused on in training this season. “When you’re in the quarter-finals, of course you always want more, but as a middle-distance runner I didn’t stand a chance against the pure sprinters“, he describes his quarter-final run, which he finished sixth and last. So his conclusion was with a “laughing and one crying” Eye mixed out.
DSV needs to focus more on strength training
Nevertheless, it must be said that the DSV has not had a top placing in the men for ages, Sebastian Eisenlauer last ran in a final in 2016 – seven years ago – in Planica, of course. The last podium place by Josef Wenzl was nine years ago. “In the men’s sprint, we’ve been out of the picture for a few years. There was a little ray of hope today“, says Schlickenrieder.
But why is it that the German men cannot keep up with the big nations? The main reason lies in the training control, explain those responsible. “We haven’t invested enough in sprints in recent years, including in the weight room“, says Brugger. The national coach also agrees with this tenor: “There must be no more discussion about the fact that strength training must be significantly intensified.“
hopes for offspring
Schlieckenrieder has had this for a long time.”preached“, as he puts it himself: “But sometimes you don’t hear the prophet in your own country.” Now the association has been initiating changes in the training area for almost a year. This is leading to initial successes, such as with Brugger or with the youngsters. At the Junior and U23 World Championships in Whistler, Canada, all six German starters made it in the finals. Even though they were still too inexperienced and eliminated early, Schlickenrieder was satisfied with their performance:
“We now have six boys who are able to sprint. We can make something out of them, I say, by 2026 we can fight at the front again“This is also a signal for the trainers.”We have to stick to the strength theme and the clearly accentuated training style, these high-intensity trainings that have not been popular in the German system so far‘ Schlickenrieder continued.
No Klaebo, but once again a final
However, one should not expect miracles. There will be no one like the dominator Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, neither in Germany nor anywhere else. “Klaebo is amazing. I like to call it the ‘white elephant’ that comes around every 20 or 30 years. But he gets stronger every year. It’s impressive. It’s nice to watch a race from him” enthuses Schlickenrieder.
His great hope is that one can at least soon be able to compete with this high-flyer in a final. This will probably last until the next Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim in two years. To do this, the path that has been taken must be continued. “We made a significant change last spring and now we are seeing the first fruits. And successes – like reaching the quarter-finals here – should be reason enough for other coaches to jump on the system“, Schlickenrieder wishes.