He has a good laugh: Hans Flatscher is satisfied with the results of the Swiss delegation at the World Championships in Saalbach
Image: Keystone
Switzerland wins 13 medals - only once more
Image: Keystone
Pirmin Zurbriggen (center) and his teammates win 14 medals in Crans-Montana in 1987
Image: Keystone
But even in times of great success, the Alpine Director of Swiss-Ski raises a warning finger
Image: Keystone
He has a good laugh: Hans Flatscher is satisfied with the results of the Swiss delegation at the World Championships in Saalbach
Image: Keystone
Switzerland wins 13 medals - only once more
Image: Keystone
Pirmin Zurbriggen (center) and his teammates win 14 medals in Crans-Montana in 1987
Image: Keystone
But even in times of great success, the Alpine Director of Swiss-Ski raises a warning finger
Image: Keystone
Hans Flatscher, Alpine Director of Swiss-Ski, takes a very positive view of the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach. A conversation about team spirit, competition and dealing with pressure.
17.02.2025, 07:00
SDA
Hans Flatscher, with 13 medals, these are the second most successful World Championships in the history of Swiss-Ski. Almost everything worked out.
I think we put in a very good performance. We already have a very good World Cup season behind us. But we all know that: A World Cup has its own laws. We started well in the team competition and were able to continue the run. All in all, we are very happy and can be proud.
With nine and a half medals - if we count the team competition as half - the Swiss men in particular delivered. They lived up to their role as favorites and withstood the pressure. Not a matter of course.
"It is certainly a favorable prerequisite that they have performed in the run-up to the World Cup season. However, this also increases expectations and pressure. It becomes a given that there will always be at least two on the podium. But that's not the case. It's always a new course, there are always new conditions. You could say that a World Championship race is like a normal World Cup race. But anyone who has ever experienced a World Cup knows that you can't take the pressure off, it's just there. It's a special occasion. The way they then delivered, with immense commitment, with immense risk, all-in - that's something that makes me particularly proud."
Things went less well for the women. Apart from the double victory in the slalom, it was a mostly disappointing performance from the Swiss-Ski athletes.
Disappointment is a harsh word. We didn't arrive with a handful of trump cards in the speed disciplines. In some cases, we weren't able to deliver the performances we would have been capable of. And then you're quickly not on the podium. In the end, only the medals count at the World Championships. So the results in the women's speed races were not satisfactory.
It's an open secret that the women have work to do.
Yes, that is the case. We are certainly a little thin on the speed side and hope that everyone will be fit and fully operational again next season. We'll be working hard on the second row so that we can have an athlete like Malorie Blanc again at some point. After all, we have to find a transition when one or two of them retire. That will be a challenge. But we were also predicted not so long ago that there would be a gap in the slalom.
Switzerland is clearly at the top of the medal table and has dominated, which I'm sure makes you happy. But how important is strong competition?
Appearances are deceptive, the competition is already there. We saw at this World Championships how quickly things can change. At the moment, we simply have a very strong team and everything is working out.
What specific stories do you particularly remember from this World Cup?
There are many. Those of Camille Rast and Thomas Tumler, for example, who had already fallen very far and were now able to celebrate their greatest successes. But also Marco Odermatt in the super-G, where we had four aces but only one of them came up trumps in the end. But it was so magnificent that it put everyone in the shade. Then on the downhill, the young Franjo von Allmen and Alexis Monney, who 'push' so hard that it's scary. The women's team combination with Lara Gut-Behrami and Wendy Holdener was also a great story. Not forgetting the double victory in the women's slalom.
You forgot the men's team combination. The Swiss triple victory was impressive and symbolic...
"... and justified when you look at the season. It was terrific for those involved. If you can experience that as a racing driver, to be up there on the podium with five of your colleagues... And when Loïc Meillard says that he was less nervous leading the giant slalom in Adelboden before the second run than he was before the slalom in the team combined, it shows what kind of team they are, how they relate to each other."
It's the much-cited team spirit that they live by and that you can see in them.
The team spirit helps all year round. You can only ski successfully if you enjoy what you are doing and enjoy being together, racing with enthusiasm.
Does a "feel-good specialist" come to hold seminars in the summer?
I think less of that (smiles). I am a proponent of practical measures: How do I find a situation and how do I best handle it.
So you were in favor of the action after the men's departure, when the drivers and supervisors gave each other extravagant hairstyles? After all, that was practical.
(Laughs out loud). You can't call it approval. I wasn't even asked, I was presented with a fait accompli. It just happened, whether I wanted it or not. They had agreed to it and were already ready for the action. There was no going back.
Your personal summary of the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach?
It was a very successful and extraordinary World Championships. I hope that we were able to inspire the youngsters with our performances. Skiing can achieve a lot. At the same time, I would like to raise a warning finger. It happens very quickly. Then a new season starts, a new race. We have to stretch ourselves in many areas and keep at it. Otherwise, we'll be gone again faster than we were where we are today.
