"… more determined than ever."

In the last three seasons the winner of the Summer Grand Prix won the overall World Cup the following winter. Double ski flying World Champion Gregor Schlierenzauer, 18, wants to carry on this tradition. An interview about rivals, stress at school and victories.

I hope that my win at the Summer Grand Prix will mean that …

… I’ll jump just as well in winter and with a consistent performance be in the running for the overall World Cup victory.

My first yellow jersey is …

… particularly motivating for winter. Besides that, I’ve given it a place of honor in my room.

In the list of my successes my triumph at the Summer Grand Prix is …

… ranked third or fourth. My wins at the ski flying World Championship and the second places at the Four Hills Tournament have a higher significance; a few other individual wins have a similar ranking. But in the summer category, for me the title ranks first in any case.

The most important contest leading up to the summer Grand Prix victory was …

… in Klingenthal. Seeing I didn’t compete in Japan, I wanted to take the yellow jersey from Simon Ammann again. In a really close contest I did manage to do that, and it gave me a huge motivation boost.

At the start of the season in Kuusamo my main focus is …

… the starting downhill position. I’ve definitely got a lot of room for improvement there. From the point of view of materials, in the meantime the top guys are grouped pretty close together. That’s why I have to try to get more speed from a really good starting downhill position.

The area I’ve improved most in compared to last year is …

… telemarking. I invested a lot of summer training time in that. In the next few weeks, though, I’ll be doing some more fine-tuning for winter.

In an interview Simon Ammann said: ‘Schlierenzauer has become more assailable.’ With this statement Simon …

… is not so off the mark. He’s my brand team-mate with Fischer and has caught up to me because he changed skis. But without wanting to sound arrogant, I didn’t perform my best jumps in summer.

In order to stay ahead of Simon Ammann in the World Cup …

… I have to continue exactly where I left off this summer. But that’s easier said than done.

My toughest rivals in the fight for the overall World Cup victory apart from Simon Ammann are …

… Thomas Morgenstern, Anders Jacobsen and the Germans. With Werner Schuster, who helped to make me one of the top ski flyers, they have a new coach and since that happened they’ve improved enormously. They still don’t have an absolute winning jumper, but they’ve got a few candidates for consistent podiums.

I’m going to win the overall World Cup this season because …

… I’ve learned a great deal in the last two years. If I can put this experience to use throughout the whole season there’s a lot I can still achieve.

Being the World Champion in Liberec would be …

… a dream, and also the type of experience where you realize what you’ve trained for and why you’ve chosen this particular sport.

This season I’ll also win the Four Hills Tournament because …

… I’ve already led twice at half time before; the third time around I’m more determined than ever.

Also in my last year at school I’m annoyed mostly by …

Having to get up so early. Quarter past five is not really a time I enjoy.

If I was as good at school as I am at sport, I …

… probably wouldn’t have to spend so much time studying. Luckily I don’t have problems with a particular subject, but because I travel so much in winter I’ll have to do a lot of catching up in spring.