Alex Schwazer is moving into football: he will be a consultant for Sudtirol in Serie B.

On his way to the world of football, Alex Schwazer has reached Serie B. The 2008 Beijing gold medalist has begun a collaboration with Sudtirol, the South Tyrolean club managed by Fabrizio Castori. This is a significant milestone for the forty-year-old Italian race walker, who—at least this time—won't have to travel far: born in Vipiteno and living in Calice with his wife Kathrin Freund and their children, Schwazer will be assisting the Bolzano team, just an hour's drive from home.

Sporting director Bravo: "Alex is humble and competent."

A very close bond with his hometown, which prompted the club's sporting director, Paolo Bravo, to involve him in the team: "For years, we've been coming to training camp near Vipiteno, where Alex was born and lives. We met him and started talking seriously about a collaboration last winter. Eventually, we started to get serious," he says. "What amazed us," Bravo continues, "was his humility and passion, but above all, his expertise in data analysis and making decisions based on the numbers. He's clearly an expert in the field and immediately involved us in his discussions."

He will be a consultant for the physical preparation of the players

A true consultant for soccer players' physical preparation: from planning to monitoring training programs, Schwazer's goal is to optimize player performance. This is the latest chapter in a seemingly endless career, from gold at the Beijing Olympics to a doping ban (2012) in the space of four years, which shaped the champion's future. Having missed London 2012, he also missed the goal of participating in the Rio 2016 Games due to another positive test.

The well-known doping cases

A legal battle ensued, which concluded in 2021 with the preliminary investigations judge of the Bolzano Court ruling in favor of Schwazer, dismissing the criminal proceedings for "not having committed the crime," deeming it "established with a high degree of rational credibility" that the urine samples had been "altered with the intent to make them test positive and, therefore, to obtain the disqualification and discredit of the athlete and his coach, Sandro Donati." But the legal issues never dampened his desire to start over, this time too, on a field—football—that is new to him. He is therefore still on the move, with the goal of staying there: "Based on the evaluation we will make over time, we say that we could consider a permanent entry into the staff. But that also depends on him, because he has no shortage of professional activities related to his expertise," concludes Bravo.