Construction work at the Biathlon Stadium Hochfilzen is in its final phase and it’s also high season at the training center. All notable teams utilize the perfect training conditions for their preparations for the winter season.

Construction work at the Biathlon Stadium Hochfilzen has been going on since October 2014 to provide the perfect infrastructures for spectators, athletes and media alike. About 20 million Euros went into the new venue that Dr. Klaus Leistner, Secretary General of the Austrian Ski Federation, recently called a “showcase project for the entire sports of biathlon”. Construction work is in its final phase while the athletes are occupied with their training efforts.

Daily Training Activities
Franz Berger and the OC hardly get any rest at the moment. “Training activities started in May and will continue until the end of October”, explains Franz Berger of the OC –Biathlon. All notable teams, like Germany, Italy, France and many others utilize the perfect conditions in Hochfilzen and prepare for the start of the biathlon season as well as the upcoming IBU World Championships Biathlon. “The new roller ski course is perfect for us, particularly with regard to the WCH here in Hochfilzen”, confirmed Dominik Windisch, South Tyrolean biathlete and world cup winner of Canmore.
The conveyer belt style training facility and the indoor shooting range are reserved for the athletes of the Austrian Ski Federation. Dominik Landertinger and Julian Eberhard are praising the new facilities: “The service building and the indoor shooting range are awesome. The conveyer belt on which we have already done several tests is very valuable to us athletes.”
A first benchmark test will take place on September 17 when Hochfilzen will hold the Austrian Championships that the Italian team has also registered for. Besides the biathlon stars the site is also in frequent use by the junior athletes from Stams and Saalfelden as well as the Nordic combined squad which came to the Hochfilzen training camp with eighty athletes.

Beneficial to local tourism
Local hotel business is noticeably profiting from the obvious increase in training activities. The teams stay in the region and provide for an additional occupancy rate across all categories. While the larger teams prefer hotels, small teams, e.g. Slovakia, stay in apartments or guest houses. Their demanding daily training schedule aside, the athletes also use their stay to get to know the region. “It almost feels like home to us and while we spend a lot of time on training, we are also hiking, paragliding or attending some of the many cool events in the region”, says Lukas Hofer (ITA) who showed his entertainment skills at the Fieberbrunn “Bummelnacht” when he picked up his accordion

Bild © WMP: busy training activities at Hochfilzen

Bild © SMPR: Lukas Hofer (ITA) in full training mode

Bild © WMP: Training of the DSV-Team (Laura Dahlmeier in the front)

Bild © WMP: Lukas Hofer (ITA) does a great job with his accordion