Athletics coach Martin Hillebrand back in Austria

Innsbruck (RWH) Martin Hillebrand, most recently active as athletics coach for the Italian World Cup team, is returning to Austria in the same capacity. The 72-year-old sports coach from Schönau am Königssee agreed with the Austrian federation (ÖRV) on a two-year cooperation until the 2022 Olympics, according to a press release published in Innsbruck.

"I am very much looking forward to the new task and the way to Olympia 2022. The Austrian team is doing a good job, has the right fighting spirit and has a lot of potential. This motivates me a lot for the time together," said Hillebrand. ÖRV President Markus Prock explained: "We did not want to miss the opportunity to work together with Martin Hillebrand again. He will share the tasks with our athletics coach Peter Penz. We are convinced that he will make our troop even faster at the start."

Hillebrand, who has been in charge of the red-white-red luge athletes for two years starting in 2014, worked for the German federation for three decades, then he was active for Russia's luge athletes from 2011 to 2014 before he was hired in Italy.