Felix Leitner, who was formerly celebrated as a top talent, has to walk through a heavy sole of the valley. In the middle of this, the biathlete receives a tart damper from the association – and strikes sharply on social media.
The cadre announcement among the Austrian biathletes had a nasty surprise for Felix Leitner. The ski hunter, which was once traded as a top talent, has not received a squad status and consequently does not even appear in the B or C squad.
Rumors about a career end circulated immediately in the Alpine Republic, but this is not the case. Leitner wants to be part of the game at the 2026 Olympic Games and is consequently disappointed with the decision. He also let the ÖSV know via social media. “Right experts at work. Great,” posted the 28-year-old under a post of the association in which the squad is listed.
According to Laola1 , Letner did not meet the corresponding performance criteria. If you consider that the athlete in the past World Cup winter only took 60th place in the overall ranking, this seems understandable. However, Leitner was behind Simon Eder (36th) and David Komatz (39th) the third best of the craving ÖSV ski hunters.
Biathlon: Leitner goes its own way
According to Laola1 , his plan should also be crucial for the loss of the squad status not to train with the team, but to prepare for the winter individually with coach Florian Styrer. Little changes for Leitner on the further timetable, but he has to do without financial support from the association.
The former world-class athlete and new biathlon division manager Christoph Sumann confirmed that Leitner was “of course disappointed” about the decision. However, he also promised not to “let the athlete hang”. It is the common desire that Leitner “comes back on track”.
Despite the disappointment, the dream of Olympia 2026 is not dreamed of for Leitner. For him it will be about performing good performances at the qualification races in autumn and qualifying for the World Cup team.
Talent cannot meet expectations: “completely broken”
He has already proven that the Tyrolean brings the necessary format for the World Cup at a young age. Known as a good shooter, he made it to 27th place in the overall ranking in the 2018/19 World Cup winter. In the following winter it was enough for 22nd place before the three-time junior world champion (2015, 2016) and European champion (2018) started stagnation. After he was able to stay in the top 30 in 2020/21 and 2021/22, positions 37, 42 and 60 have been steeply downhill in recent years.
The 2023/24 season, as he explained in the summer of 2024 at Laola1 , “completely broken”. He was “physically, mentally and healthy”, which is why he decided to train with his former youth coach Styrer far away from the team. Leitner already explained here that a “process” would come to him in order to “slow down” and “no miracles will happen” in the coming winter. This forecast has been confirmed in the past winter. It is all the more annoying for him to have got a damper from the association in the middle of the long -term process.
Only Hauser receives national team status
The ÖSV has nominated four athletes for the A squad with Simon Eder, David Komatz, Fredrik Mühlbacher and Fabian Müllauer. There are also nine athletes in the B and eight athletes in the C squad. For women, Lisa Hauser made it into the national team, five athletes in the A-squad and another twelve into the B and C squad.