Half-time at Kinder-Vierschanzentournee – Interesting conversation with Thomas Morgenstern

RASCHAU/BISCHOFSHOFEN, June 24, 2013 – The Kids’ Four-Hift Tour 2013, which is being held for the 15th time this year, has reached its halfway point. The stops in Hinzenbach and Bischofshofen were successfully completed over the past two weekends.

“We are very satisfied with the support from various clubs from home and abroad again this year,” says tour coordinator Wolfgang Roithner. “150, 160 participants from four nations were in Austria; they came from Hungary, Romania, Germany, and, of course, Austria. Turkey had shown interest as well, but ultimately was not named – but who knows, perhaps their jumpers will join the second part.” With the number of participants, the event is near the limit of what is feasible. “We can carry out the event, which lasts about five hours, also thanks to electronic distance measurement – which is a blessing for us.”

That Thomas Morgenstern, a current star of the Austrian Ski Association, paid a visit to the Nachwuchs-Tournee in Bischofshofen is pleasing to Roithner and Peter Riedel – the specialist in track-approach technology who was personally on site in the Salzburg region – as well. “The emotional support from an Olympic champion, world champion, Tour winner, overall World Cup winner is incredibly important for our event. Through his presence, the media are drawn in as well, and the public learns that you can jump at a young age,” says Wolfgang Roithner.

“Youth sport has always been and remains incredibly important to me,” explained Peter Riedel, who has in the past also sometimes served as president of ASC Oberwiesenthal and, in that role, particularly championed youth development in alpine sports. Therefore, his commitment to the Kinder-Vierschanzentournee is easy to understand. Peter Riedel GmbH and its partner REHAU, a worldwide leader in plastics processing, are the main sponsors of this year’s youth-tour events.

“At the same time, the event in Bischofshofen also offered the opportunity to get closer to Thomas Morgenstern,” Riedel explained. “We exchanged our opinions and ideas regarding the further development of ski-jump approaches, and I’m glad we were able to discuss very constructively. I attach the utmost importance to the feedback from the athletes, the most important protagonists of the scene.”

The Kinder-Vierschanzentournee, in which 7- to 11-year-old boys and girls participate, will conclude in September with jumps in Reit im Winkl (September 14) and Berchtesgaden (September 21).