Mozart Cup 2016 is about to begin in Austria. Theresa Katzlinger and Carmen Kiefer are responsible for the competition in the organizational committee. A few hours before the opening, Theresa Katzlinger shares with us her excitement. Interview.

Jura Synchro : How many years have you been responsible for this competition?

Theresa Katzlinger : Carmen and I, together with other members of our OC have been responsible for this competition since the beginning in 2011.

How have you known synchronized skating? What’s your relation with this sport?

Carmen is the Team manager of Sweet Mozart since the team was founded and I was skating in Sweet Mozart and have been Captain of the team. I am also a coach now for Sweet Mozart, Tyrol Diamonds, and Tyrolean Crystals.

What’s the story of this contest?

Mozart Cup was a Single competition before, but then we started to add synchronized skating and later we thought, it would be best to have a synchro-only competition in Salzburg.

What makes Mozart Cup famous in the synchro world?

A lot of teams came from overseas because of the history of Salzburg and also for European teams it is quite convenient because Salzburg is lying in the center of Europe.

In a few days, the competition will start, everything will be ready?

We are doing this for the 6th time and usually everything worked out, so also this year we are going to make it ;)

How many people and volunteers will work during the competition?

We have around 40 people working at the ice rink – from dressing rooms to the OC office – we have a lot of volunteers from our club!

Synchronized skating isn’t an Olympic sport for the moment. What’s your opinion about that?

It definitely should be! It is the most interesting and fastest growing discipline in figure skating – and the only one gaining spectators…

What’s your favorite moment during the Mozart Cup?

There are a lot of beautiful moments: meeting all those amazing teams (and their managers), the excitement before the event starts, the relief when it is over and everything worked out well.

Which is your favorite team and why?

Our favorite team is Sweet Mozart, but from our guests, we have to say that they are all great in their way, some teams are more demanding than others, but they are all perfectly nice! Some teams are coming back every year, for example, Stalets from the Czech Republic and Starlets from Germany – they have been to every Mozartcup!

Your prognosis for this 2016 Mozart Cup?

It’s going to be a lot of work, we hope that Sweet Mozart can get a lot of feedback and learn from it. Marigold has the best chances to win the gold in Senior, but Miami University is also close, I guess that there will be a bigger fight for the bronze medal… In Junior, we have great teams, like Crystal Ice who won last year with an amazing Circus program, Lexettes, and Les Pirouettes… it’s going to be tough. Also in Advanced Novice – there are 8 teams, which is a new record at Mozartcup –. And don’t forget about the Non-ISU categories, it’s usually a tough competition at Mozartcup.

A scoop for the 2017 edition?

It’s going to happen: 19.-22.1.2017, reserve the date ;)