Mario Stecher new sports director in Austria

One year ahead of the Nordic World Championships in Seefeld, there has been a change in the sports leaderships of the Austrian Ski Federation: Sports Director Ernst Vettori stepped down after over 30 years in the Austrian Ski Federation (as an athlete, as Head of Nordic Marketing and Sports Director for Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping).

“I have worked full of passion for the entire duration of my time in the ÖSV but after a thorough consultation with my family, I have made the decision to not continue in the next season." After eight years in office, Vettori can look back on a very successful tally of five Olympic and 30 World Championships medals.

Vettori will be replaced by Nordic Combined legend Mario Stecher, who ended his active career in 2015 and has worked as an expert for TV since. At his presentation during a press conference in Innsbruck’s Bergisel venue, Stecher did not want to go too much into detail of what his plans are but gave some general remarks:

“We will have to get the entire team excited about the sport. One very important point is to strengthen the team spirit.” In addition, he wants to implement one clear direction, all the way down to the junior athletes."