This is the new big support for the Vorarlberg ski ace.
©GEPA (2)
Katharina Liensberger relies on the support of the former ÖSV trainer and now mental coach Mathias Berthold at the Ski World Championships.
The Austrian Ski Association announced this cooperation on Friday. “It was also Katharina’s wish that Mathias be brought in. It’s all about mental work to regain her self-confidence,” explained Alpine boss Herbert Mandl.
Liensberger’s new support can boast of these successes
The project of the double world champion with Berthold is currently limited to the season highlight in Courchevel/Méribel, but could also be extended. Berthold from Vorarlberg has recently worked a lot in football, including two seasons from summer 2020 to summer 2022 as “team and personality developer” at Austria’s runners-up Sturm Graz.
Mathias Berthold has helped many an athlete to be successful.
© GEPA
As a ski trainer, the ex-racer has coached runners from a wide variety of countries to Olympic and World Cup medals and numerous World Cup victories. In his four-year era as ÖSV men’s boss (2010 to 2014), Marcel Hirscher had started to win.
Not an easy season for the Vorarlberg ski ace
Liensberger is far behind his own expectations this season. The 25-year-old only finished in the top ten three times in the World Cup, her best result is fifth place in the giant slalom in Killington. After the separation from star coach Livio Magoni three weeks ago, the results got worse rather than better. In the second week of the World Championships, she appears as the defending champion in the slalom and parallel competitions. Her likely start follows Tuesday in the team competition. There is no official confirmation of this yet.
In the days leading up to the World Cup, Liensberger did a few training rides in the Zürs arena in front of Mandl and women’s head coach Thomas Trinker. These training performances were “absolutely okay,” said Mandl. “There was just a problem getting that into the race. There was no trust – in her ability, maybe also in the material. She needs a little help to restore that.”
Will the big turnaround still follow? – “We believe in it”
Can the turnaround succeed at a World Cup? “It’s also difficult for us to assess from a coaching perspective,” said Trinker recently. “The possibility is there. We believe in it.” He also spoke of fast training turns in Zürs. “We tried everything: course setting, approach, material. It looked very good there again. When the excitement from the race and the expectations aren’t there, she drives fast.”
The coach emphasized that a lot had come together for Liensberger recently. Even before Berthold’s engagement, Liensberger had worked with psychotherapist Martina Leibovici-Mühlberger, who was close to the ÖSV. Magoni is no longer on the association’s payroll, said Trinker. The separation from the star coach was ultimately a contractually amicable one. “He had a works contract. That was calculated down. He was paid for the days he worked,” said Trinker.
