Nina Ortlieb: "Realized I have different needs"

ÖSV downhill racer Nina Ortlieb has had a winter with some "ups and downs."

While she was eliminated from both the downhill and Super-G at the Olympic Games, she returned to the World Cup podium in Soldeu at the end of February for the first time in about three years.

Not bad, considering last season was also a comeback season after Ortlieb sustained a lower leg fracture in January 2025.

Now, however, the 30-year-old is back in top shape and full of drive. To consistently compete at the top of the world, Ortlieb has decided to change training groups together with her ÖSV coaches.

Future in Training Group with Julia Scheib

"After the preseason, I sat down with the coaches. We realized that I have different needs and require more giant slalom training," Ortlieb explained to "Krone".

The daughter of Olympic champion Patrick Ortlieb will therefore train in the future with the "WC3 group" supervised by Martin Sprenger, which also includes Julia Scheib, the best giant slalom skier of the past World Cup season.

A Step for the Super-G

"It was also an important step for me with regard to the Super-G. I had already achieved two World Cup victories there, but last winter it was only a top-10 finish, although much more would have been possible," explains Ortlieb, who wants to focus more on her technical skills again, as she was, after all, Junior World Champion in giant slalom in 2015.

Ortlieb and her ÖSV teammates already departed for a training camp in South America on August 15.

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