A festival of joy for ski jumping sport: Nordic combined athletes praise the new ‘Riedel Track’ at the Fichtelberg ski jump in Oberwiesenthal

RASCHAU/OBERWIESENTHAL, August 26, 2013 – The day after the Summer Grand Prix of Nordic combined skiers, Peter Riedel also found time to catch his breath. “The last few days have absolutely taken a toll,” says the world’s leading producer of start tracks on ski jumps, who in his hometown Oberwiesenthal also acted as a sponsor. “On Wednesday the provisional certificate from the International Ski Federation (FIS) arrived, on Thursday we welcomed FIS Race Director Lasse Ottesen at Prague airport, Friday was training, Saturday and Sunday were competition.” 

The team sprint victories went to the Austrian duo Christoph Bieler/Bernhard Gruber, and the individual to Japanese Akito Watabe. “It was great racing, they are worthy champions,” says Riedel, who presented the Austrian team with the winner’s trophy on Saturday. He was especially pleased by the praise from the scene for the new track at the Fichtelberg ski jump.

The new hill passed its baptism of fire, headlined the Freie Presse today, Monday, and quoted Eric Frenzel: “The radius no longer has a kink as before; the track is laid evenly well.” Bernhard Gruber agreed in conversation with Riedel: “The track is top.” And the Austrian coach, Falko Krismayr, also spoke high praise for the “double track.”

 “The recognition by the athletes and coaches is personally especially important to me,” explains Riedel. “They are the ones who must feel comfortable in the track.” The entrepreneur, whose product will be installed on Olympic jumps in Sapporo later this year, also notes that the speed in the “Riedel track” is getting faster and faster. “I predicted this development a year ago, and it is coming true.”

But a start track without a substructure would be worthless, and without the collaboration of various institutions and organizations the race against time at the Fichtelberg ski jump would not have been won. “The town of Oberwiesenthal, the WSC Oberwiesenthal, the entire region have played together perfectly on this project,” says Riedel, “I’m glad to be part of this bigger whole. And I want to thank all those who worked in the background and laid the foundation for us to set our track on these prestigious hills.”