Sports
 For Austrians watching and performing sports is an important hobby. Although many different kinds of sports are performed, the most important ones are without a doubt football (soccer) and the different types of winter sports, where Austria staffes the best skiers of the world.
Winter Sports
Armin Assinger (1964)
He won 4 World Cup races and is currently the host of the “Millionenshow”.
Michaela Dorfmeister (1973)
She won the World Cup for Giant Slalom, one for Downhill and one for Super-G.
Stephan Eberharter (1969)
He won the World Cup in 2002 and 2003.
Andreas Goldberger
(1972)
Goldberger is a ski jumper, who won among other prices the World Cup 3 times and the Four Hills Tournament twice.
Renate Goetschl (1975)
She won 9 World Championship medals and two Olympic medals in various skiing categories.
Christl Haas
(1943 - 2001)
Haas won the World Cup, the World Championship and the Olympics in the category “downhill”.
Herman Maier
(1972)
Maier is seen world-wide as one of the best skiers. He won the World cup title twice, two Olympic gold medals and three World Championship titles among many other prices. Although he had to undergo surgery after a severe motorcycle accident, he kept skiing and winning.
Ulrike Maier (1967 - 1994)
Ulrike won gold twice in the World Alpine Ski Championship. She died during the World cup in 1994, after she crashed into a post at 120 km/h speed.
Franz Klammer (1953)
Unanimously considered in skiing circles the greatest downhill racer of all time and to this day still holds the record for most downhill wins (25). Furthermore he is an Olympic Gold medalist, won the World cup downhill 5 times and became World Champion.
Patrick Ortlieb (1967)
He won gold at the Winter olympics in 1992.
Annemarie Moser-Proell (1953)
Moser-Proll was the most successful female skier in the 1970s. She won 3 Olympic medals and 6 World cup titles including 62 individual Word Cup victories more than any other female skier and most of the male skiers.
Benjamin Raich ( 1978)
Among his many prices he won the 2006 Winter Olympics in Slalom.
Karl Schnabl ( 1954)
After winning gold in large hill atthe Winter Olympics 1976 and some other events he became a traumatology surgeon.
Karl Schranz (1938)
Although facing many accidents, sicknesses and unfair judging, he nevertheless won the Olympics four times and became one of the best alpine skiers ever.
Thomas Stangassinger (1965)
He won among other prices the 1994 Olympics in slalom.
Hubert Strolz (1962)
He won gold at the Olympics 1988 and the World Cup the same year. Now he runs a skiing and snowboard school in Warh.
Ernst Vettori (1964)
Ernst Vettori was a ski jumper. He won the Four Hills Tournament twice and the Winter Olympics in 1992. He is now the marketing director of the Austrian Ski Assosiation.
Anita Wachter (1967)
She won the World Cup in skiing categories several times.
Felix Gottwald (1876)
He began his career at the age of 18 years, won the Olympic games twice and the World Championship once.
Toni Sailer
(1935)
Seen as one of the best skiers in history, he was the first to win all three Alpine skiing events at the Winter Olympics.
Formula One
Gerhard Berger (1959)
He won ten grand prix and started 210 times a race in his life. Now he owns 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team.
Niki Lauda (1949)
Niki Lauda is he most famous Austrian Formula One drivers. He won the F1 World Championship 3 times. At the German GP his car was served off track and he suffered severe burnings, since he was trapped inside the burning car. From this moment on he always wears ared cap to cover his scars. He became an entrepreneur after his racing career.
Roland Ratzenberger
(1960 - 1994)
Ratzenberger died at the qualifications for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in a car accident. One day later Ayrton Senna died on the same track. In his car they found a burned Austrian flag, which he wanted to raise, if he won the race, in the name of Ratzenberger.
Mountaineering
Peter Aufschnaiter (1899 - 1973)
Peter was the mountaineer who joined Heinrich Harrer in the journey, which was shown in the movie “Seven years in Tibet”.
Karl Blodig (1859 - 1956)
Blodig was the first mountaineer to climb alpine mountains above 4000 meters.
Hermann Buhl (1924 - 1957)
The first mountaineer who ascended the Nanga Parbat (1953) and the Broad Peak (1957) was Hermann Buhl.
Kurt Diemberger (1932)
He ascended the Broad Peak with Hermann Buhl and was then the first to ascend Dhaulagiri (1960).
Heinrich Harrer (1912 - 2006)
He was the first human to ascend Carstensz Pyramid. His experience in Tibet should years later plot in the movie “Seven years in Tibet”.
Peter Habeler (1942)
He and Reinhold Messner were the first ever to ascend the Mount Everest without oxygen.
Markus Kronthaler (1967 - 2006)
He died during an expedition to Broad Peak. His body was left on the mountain.
Fritz Moravec
(1922 - 1997)
Moravec was part of the first expedition to Gasherbrum II.
Marcus Schmuck (1925 - 2005)
Schmuck was part of the first expedition to ascend Broad Peak and he was the leader of the OEAV Karakoram Expedition.
Herbert Tichy (1912 - 1987)
Tichy was the first mountaineer who ascended the Cho Oyo.
Fritz Wintersteller (1927)
Wintersteller was member of the first expedition, which ascended Broad Peak in 1957.
Hockey
Reinhard Divis (1975)
He was the first Austrian to play in the NHL.
Thomas Vanek (1984)
He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres 5th overall in the 32003 NHL Entry Draft, what makes him the highest Austrian draft pick.
Soccer
Andreas Herzog (1968)
The former soccer player now trains Austria's national football youth.
Josef Hickersberger (1948)
The former soccer player and coachof “Rapid Vienna” is since 2006 the coach of the national team of Austria.
Hans Krankl (1953)
He holds the world record of 39 goals in 69 games.
Toni Polster (1964)
The famous soccer striker is leading in the numbers of goals for Austria.
Herbert Prohaska (1955)
Prohaska is one of the most famous Austrian soccer players. He was 4 times Austrian football champion.
Matthias Sindelar (1903 - 1939)
He was voted the best Austrian football player of the 20th century. Sometimes he was called “Mozart of Football”.
Tennis
Julian Knowle (1974)
He is one of the most successful Austrian double players. Furthermore, since he is left-handed, he is one of the few players, who use both hands for every stroke.
Stefan Koubek (1977)
Koubek won many titles for Austria
Jurgen Melzer
(1981)
He won one title and is ranks high in the international tennis ranks.
Thomas Muster
(1967)
Thomas Muster is Austria’s most famous Tennis player. In 1995, he won the French Open competition and in 1996 he reached ranking 1 in the world.
Barbara Schett (1976)
She played for Austria at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and reached the quarter finals. She has won already more than 30 times for Austria.
Others
Kate Allen (1970)
The Austrian triathlete won the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Toni Fritsch (1945 - 2005)
After a successful soccer career, he played football in the USA. In 1972 he won the Super Bowl with his team. He is the only Austrian who ever achieved this.
Stephanie Graf (1973)
The middle distance runner holds the current 800 meters record in Austria.
Markus Rogan (1982)
The Austrian swimmer won two silvermedals at the 2004 summer Olympics. Furthermore, he swam for the Stanford University from the year 2000 to 2004.
Nicole Trimmel
(1982)
The Austrian kickboxer managed to obtain the title of World Champion.
Werner Schlager (1972)
The Austrian table tennis playerwon the ITTF Single World Championship in 2003.
Peter Seisenbacher (1960)
The judo fighter managed to win gold twice at Olympic games.
Christoph Sieber (1971)
The Austrian sailor won gold in Mistral class in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Elisabeth Theurer (1956)
The Austrian horse rider won the European Dressage Championship in 1979 and the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Georg Totschnig (1971)
The Austrian road bicycle racer won a stage at the 2005 Tour de France.
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