Austria celebrates podium sweep in Val di Fiemme

Team Austria closed the Summer Grand Prix season in style with a historic performance in Val di Fiemme (ITA), taking all three podium spots – and even filling the top five – in today’s men’s final competition.

The day started on the large hill HS 143 in Predazzo, where Franz-Josef Rehrl delivered an outstanding jump of 139.5 meters (141.1 points). Under bright blue skies, he set a new hill record and secured pole position for the afternoon’s 10 km roller ski race through Ziano di Fiemme.

Close behind was fellow Austrian Paul Walcher, who landed at 132 meters (139.6 points) and began the race only six seconds after Rehrl. Completing the strong Austrian showing in the jumping round, Thomas Rettenegger placed third with 132.5 meters (133.2 points), starting 32 seconds behind the leader.

The roller ski race quickly developed into an exciting battle. Walcher closed the gap on Rehrl early and was just 0.3 seconds behind after 2.5 km. Meanwhile, Thomas Rettenegger, Johannes Lamparter, Stefan Rettenegger, and Richard Stenzel worked together in the chase group, about 36 seconds adrift.

At the halfway mark (5 km), Walcher briefly took the lead, with Rehrl right on his heels (+0.4 sec). The chasing Austrians began to close in, cutting the deficit to just 24 seconds. By 7.5 km, Stefan Rettenegger and Lamparter had reduced the gap even further, sitting only eight seconds behind the leading duo.

In the final lap, the pursuers caught up, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. Stefan Rettenegger launched a decisive attack, sprinting to victory and claiming the second Grand Prix win of his career. Rehrl crossed the line in second, only 1.7 seconds back, while Walcher secured third place (+3.7 sec), completing the Austrian podium sweep.

Lamparter finished fourth (+29.6 sec), with Thomas Rettenegger in fifth (+33.7 sec), marking a historic result for Austria as all top five athletes came from the same team.