Swede Trains with ÖSV Speed Team: What Ski Austria Hopes For
The ÖSV has welcomed Felix Monsen into its speed group. What this means for the red-white-red athletes and whether more foreign skiers could follow:
von Daniela Kulovits
Austria's speed team has welcomed an international addition.
Following an inquiry, Swede Felix Monsen was admitted to the ÖSV's WC2 group.
"He will be integrated and can train with us," explains ÖSV Alpine Director Christian Mitter. "We are pleased that we might be taking a slightly new path here."
"He has good speed"
Mitter speaks of close cooperation. Monsen has his own coach and serviceman with his own training design.
The ÖSV hopes for additional competition in training. "He has good speed," Mitter says about Monsen.
The Scandinavian, who competes in Super-G and Downhill, finished last World Cup season in the top 30 of the best downhill skiers. Monsen's best World Cup results to date were two tenth-place finishes in Kitzbühel in 2025 (Super-G) and 2026 (Downhill).
Mitter: "We can truly offer something"
For the ÖSV, which is not exactly accustomed to success in men's speed disciplines currently, Monsen's inquiry is also a kind of confirmation.
"Often, from an internal perspective, you only see what's going wrong. When a skier from outside approaches us and wants to train with us, then you see that we can truly offer something," says Mitter.
In the future, the ÖSV does not intend to actively approach skiers, but would "consider it on a case-by-case basis." The prerequisite is that athletes must have met the ÖSV squad limit if they were Austrian – as is the case with Monsen.
