Nordic SkiingNordic Combined - Austria
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Not just Estelle Alphand in Alpine skiing. These days there has been some news of another change of nationality in the field of winter disciplines. In fact, in the Nordic Combined, the Austrian Tomaz Druml announced that from now on he will compete for Slovenia.
Saturday 3 June 2017 4 minutes reading time
The athlete wrote on his Facebook page that: "After a series of three-year health problems (overtraining, arrhythmia, performance collapse, forced breaks), they again came back competitive last winter. Of a lack of pitch at the beginning of the season, I did not get the results to gain a seat in the Austrian team.
At that point I found myself in front of a crossroads: keep fighting alone, paying my pocket for any expense, or retiring.
The Nordic combined is my passion since childhood, so retiring is not an option. Especially because I feel I have not yet reached my peak. Speaking to Slovenian Ski Federation officials at Planica during the World Cup finals, I was offered to change nationality and compete for Slovenia.
The Austrian federation has given its approval and the FIS has approved everything, allowing me to compete already from 2017 - '18 with the Slovenian flag. I want to thank the Ösv, my former teammates and coaches. It was a pleasure to have great results with Austria. But now I can not wait to start the summer season with Slovenia and a big smile. "
Druml, 29, in the season just ended, won three podiums in the Continental Cup, while in the only World Cup stage he was deployed did not break into points. However, in the past, he was able to pick up several tops in the top 15 in the top of the circuit, with a few hits in the top 10.
Indeed the Carinthian was now closed in the very strong Rot-Weiß-Rot team. On the other hand, in Slovenia, it will not be difficult to compete consistently, since it will probably be at the level of Marjan Jelenko, at the time of the only competitive Slovenian champion in the World Cup. Slovenia then buys a second man with the potential to score points in the circuit.
The only contradiction is the fact that you can not participate in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, as according to the Cio Rules, to qualify for Olympic after a change of nationality, they must pass at least 3 years after the last international competition disputed.
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