Amazing atmosphere, great races and wonderful weather – the Biathlon World Championships in Hochfilzen are on and that’s mostly her job: Monika Berger. Except the weather the 49 year old has everything under control. She has been Chief Secretary of the Organization Committee since 2004 and somewhere between answering phone calls and knocks at her door she found a few minutes to give us some insights on “her” WC.

Moni, you are in charge of anything. What is “anything”?

Actually I’m in charge of the whole organization. From inviting tenders to coordinating things, from staffing to financing – I’m working full-time on all of these areas. Especially in the lead up to events all tascs are up to me.
You are supported by co-workers and volunteers. How many people are in the OC-team?
40 people are working at the OC on several tasks as press, promotion, logistics and so on. To be able to carry out the World Championships we get support from around 300 volunteers. In total around 600 people are making the event happen.

The final competitions are happening these days – are you happy with the development from an organizational perspective?

I am very satisfied. Of course I’m a little self-critical – whether it is positive or negative in my office everything comes together. I’m there for anyone, that’s what my job is about. On top the weather plus the atmosphere are fantastic and our athletes are going to be successful as well, this I’m sure of.

In case you find time to cross fingers – who are you rooting for?

I’m rooting for all Austrians and am happy for every winner because they deserve it all.

After the WC are you going on a well deserved vacation or what’s your plan for the following week?

(Loughs) After the WC bills need to be added up, statistics need to be made and things need to be tidied up. Until the end of April we’ll hopefully be through with all of it and then I’ll take a vacation.