Austria's lugers have an ambitious start to the 2024/2025 season
Vienna (FIL/26 Aug 2024) Continuity and consistent training are the foundations of Austria's artificial track lugers' preparations for the season. Since Easter, the national team has once again been devoting itself to intensive physical build-up training. The strength and specific training will be completed in blocks until September, with regular tests monitoring the progress and alignment of the athletes. The training groups will be supervised by both the Olympic Center and “Löberbauer Performance”.
Experienced and young athletes in the national team
Both experienced athletes and young talents have been integrated into the national team. Among them are Dorothea Schwarz, Noah Kallan, Fabio Zauser and Lisa Zimmermann, who wants to compete in the women's doubles together with Barbara Allmaier in the coming season.
The coordination and implementation of the entire athletics program is in the hands of Lukas Schlierenzauer. The 27-year-old from Stubai, most recently head coach of the juniors, has been the national team's start and athletics coach all year round since April. “The work so far has been positive. For the first time in a long time, all the athletes are healthy and without any major injury worries. The team atmosphere is very good, and the performance tests so far show that we are on the right track,” says Schlierenzauer.
Standing still is not an option
In order to make the summer training more varied, the team is focusing on new stimuli. For example, a kayak tour in Slovenia's Soča Valley, a summer luge trip to Zwickau and a visit to the Red Bull Academy in Salzburg were on the agenda. Another change of scenery will follow at the beginning of September, when training will move to Funtana in Croatia for a week. “Such activities and excursions promote motivation and team building. At the end of the day, everyone sleds for themselves, but it's only through team cohesion that we can push boundaries,” emphasizes Schlierenzauer.
At the same time, the further development of the equipment is being driven forward. “Standing still is a step backwards” is the motto of the ÖRV (Austrian Luge Federation). The current focus is on aerodynamic improvements, which have shown promising results in previous wind tunnel tests. “In light of the new findings, we have adapted two sleds. These will be subjected to further tests. If the course we have taken is confirmed, we will adapt the entire sled material over the course of the season,” explains Peter Penz, who is in charge of technical development together with Georg Hackl.
Training in the ice track starts again in October.
Photos: ÖRV/Ebermann
