The ski jumping pair Goldberger and Roscher is nominated for the ROMY. The two have been working together for 18 years.

The doctor recommended him to do sports, but in an age-appropriate way. And so he skis and bikes, plays tennis and golf, climbs mountains and cross-country trails. Only ski jumping isn’t age appropriate when you’re 50 and your sciatic nerve is pinching. So Andreas Goldberger’s ski jumping equipment is left untouched at home. At some point he wants to jump again, “but only if I’m fully fit.” Old ailments are still plaguing me.

Three years ago, at the Women’s World Cup in Hinzenbach, Upper Austria, Goldberger jumped over a hill in full gear for the last time. Back then with the camera on the helmet. As an expert, it was important to him early on “that the spectators can jump with them. That they get an impression of the speed, the dynamics, the steepness.”

Andreas Goldberger was not the first “pop star of ski jumping”, he was even the most popular winter athlete in Austria in the early 1990s – only Hermann Maier triggered alpine euphoria a little later.

Goldberger won the overall World Cup, Four Hills Tournament, World Championships and Olympic medals, became ski flying world champion and world record holder. In 2005 he ended his active career and switched to the expert chair at ORF broadcasts in the autumn.

A couple for 18 years

There he sits next to Michael Roscher – also now at the Nordic World Championships in Planica, Slovenia. Roscher has been with ORF since 1992, in the sports department since 2001, and has been broadcasting ski jumping since 2003. Initially, he had Armin Kogler at his side as an expert, who was then replaced by Martin Koch. And almost 18 years ago, Goldberger came along. And now the ski jump couple Goldberger and Roscher have been nominated for a ROMY in the category Sport.

Documentary about the friend

The “Goldi of the Nation” not only had flights of fancy, but also crashes. “Top-class sport was my school of life. I experienced a lot and learned a lot more, especially from defeats and mistakes,” says Goldberger. This is also what the documentary “A Lausbub turns 50” is about. Michael Roscher, who will be 50 himself in March, filmed it. Roscher says: “In the summer I’ll do more sport on Sundays because I really like cinema and I’m happy when I can delve deeper.”

When travelling, Goldberger Roscher always motivates him to exercise. “Goldi always has to move, there’s no such thing as bad weather,” says the Lower Austrian. The Upper Austrian confirms: “I’m responsible for the sports program, looking for the gym and the cross-country ski run. He’s responsible for the cuisine, knows the best restaurants or cooks himself if we’re staying in the apartment.”

In the almost 18 years, the father of four, Roscher, and the father of two, Goldberger, who lives in Waldzell with his family on Mondsee, became good friends. “Some winters I see him more often as a wife and children,” says Roscher. But Goldberger now takes more time for his family and his “Goldi Cup” for children’s ski jumping. “It’s good to get some distance,” says Goldberger. “Unlike skiing, which almost everyone has already done, it’s harder to get into ski jumping,” he says. Ski jumping is difficult and casual at the same time.