Stefan Horngacher will quit as national coach of the German ski jumpers after the Olympic winter. The announced cut caught the DSV Adler on the wrong foot, as the currently best German jumper admits.
With his announced resignation as national ski jumping coach at the end of the Olympic season, Stefan Horngacher triggered a major earthquake in German ski jumping around a month before the start of the winter.
He had to “let the Austrian’s decision sink in a little bit first,” quotes “Sport1” DSV sports director Horst Hüttel. “That came as a bit of a surprise to me too.”
Hüttel announced that they now want to get together over the course of the season to find a “long-term solution.”
Horngacher also caught the DSV Adler quite unprepared. He was “shocked for a moment,” said Philipp Raimund, who has just won the Summer Grand Prix. “Awesome. You didn’t really expect that much.”
It’s never a bad thing when a “fresh wind” comes in, said the 25-year-old: “But it will still be a change.”
Thurnbichler? Hornshoe? Who will follow Horngacher?
Horngacher has been national coach at DSV since 2019, when he succeeded his compatriot Werner Schuster.
The highlights of Horngacher’s tenure so far have been the team gold at the 2021 home World Championships in Oberstdorf and Karl Geiger’s individual title at the 2020 Ski Flying World Championships in Planica. The German ski jumpers have not yet achieved the hoped-for victory in the Four Hills Tournament, even under Horngacher.
The 56-year-old native of the Black Forest was the Polish head coach before moving to DSV and himself a world champion as a jumper.
Video: What the ski jumping revolution means
Who inherits Horngacher? The candidate is Thomas Thurnbichler from Austria, who has initially taken over the B squad since leaving the DSV as Polish head coach. Another option being discussed is Ronny Hornschuh, who is currently responsible for the C squad.