It is post season and some time has passed since Bernhard Gruber’s tour de force in Falun which ended in the first-ever Austrian individual gold medal at World Championships. Time to check in with the 32-year-old to see what's happened in the post season, how he sees the changes in the Austrian team after key retirements and the new coaching staff in this edition of TUESDAY TALK.

Berni, some time has passed since your title in Falun. Have you been you able to realise and process what you achieved?

Bernhard Gruber: Yes, that’s right, some time has passed and I was able to realise my success. Everything just fit on that day. I had a perfect jump, a perfect tactical race with a final sprint ignition at Mördarbakken. This day will be in my memory forever .

How did Austria receive its first-ever Nordic Combined World Champion?

I was greeted so affectionately in Austria. When I arrived at the airport in Salzburg, my parents, my sister, my grandma, the mayor of Bad Hofgastein and a local music group were waiting for me. An unbelievable feeling. The mayor told me the whole of Bad Hofgastein was in a state of emergency after my victory! (laughs) I really wasn’t aware what my victory caused but as they said, it was an unbelievable hype in my hometown. I really don’t want to show off but when I came to my reception in Bad Hofgastein, I had to give autographs for two full hours, it was crazy! I was made an honorary citizen of the town which is such a big honour for me.

They even gave me the most amazing guitar amp as a present. A Marshall JVM signature model by the famous guitarist Joe Satriani! Amazing sound!! I was completely overwhelmed! Many people also told me how big of an idol I am for the young athletes. This makes me so proud and it’s also really important for the sport. We need a lot of young talents.

The first week after the season was also really stressful with the season analysis in St. Anton am Arlberg, after that a reception in Vienna, followed by another one in Salzburg, after that the reception at home. It was a really busy schedule but it’s such a pleasure to do everything. You meet a lot of people, colleagues and old buddies, it’s really cool.

With the retirements of Mario Stecher and Christoph Bieler, now you and Willi Denifl are the most experienced athletes. How does it feel to take over the team leader role?

I was not happy about Stechus and Bieles retiring at first. We were a close-knit team and we had a lot of success together. They were true center figures, they were important as a sport lives through its faces. But they made their decision and of course that is very ok. Now me and Willi are the oldest ones on the team but I am sure that we and also Lukas Klapfer are able to take on a kind of team leader role and pass on our experience to the younger athletes.

I really like how our team is looking like now. It’s great to see the younger athletes getting closer. This is extremely important fur us as a team and I see tremendous potential in everyone. It is a lot of fun to be a part of, train and compete with this team.

A lot of things also changed with the coaches. How will it be to have your teammate Christoph Bieler as your new jumping coach?

Unfortunately Falko Krismayr and Thomas Baumann aended their work for our team. They were important companions who taught us a lot. It is really crazy how much the team is changing now, be it athletes and coaches but to have Bieles as the jumping coach is very cool. Two months ago, we were sharing a room at the World Cup finals in Oslo and now at the first Get Together of the coaches and athletes, he is sitting on the other side as a coach! (laughs) It is slightly crazy but we are all very happy with this solution and convinced that working with him will be great.

With Jochen Strobl, you are getting another new coach on the cross-country side. He had a lot of success as the Italian head coach in the last winters. What do you expect from this new cooperation?

With Jochen, a coach is joining us who has a lot of knowledge about the sport and who is just a great guy. I am sure he could still do one or the other interval session together with us and kick our asses, he’s still really fit. (laughs)

I can still remember the times when we were both attending the ski school in Stams, back when Jochen was also training to become a Nordic Combined athlete. I was in the sixth grade, he was in the eighth and sometimes we had joint trainings. (laughs) It will be really cool to work with him.

After the season, were you able to enjoy some well-deserved holidays. When will the training for the winter 2015/16 start again?

Gruber: Holidays? What’s that? (laughs) No, I actually did not go on holiday somewhere. After my gold medal, I said to myself, now I really want to enjoy the spring time, too. I decided to train at home, in Sportgastein, just for fun. I went cross-country skiing almost every day in amazing conditions, free riding, going on ski tours, met friends, played tennis, flew a model plane, I just enjoyed everything.

The starting shot for the new season will be given in the first week of May. The coaches have been drafting plans, a lot of things are scheduled. I am looking forward to the first training camp with the new staff. Gilo, our head coach luckily stayed with the team, he is an extremely important person. Until then, I will enjoy the last days of freedom! (laughs)

Source: fis-ski.com