List of Austrian sportspeople
Despite its relatively small population Austria has produced many great athletes in several sports including Skiing, Formula One, Mountaineering and Tennis. Below is a list of Austrian athletes organized by sport.
Contents
Fencing
- Albert Bogen (Albert Bógathy), saber fencer, Olympic silver
- Siegfried "Fritz" Flesch, sabre fencer, Olympic bronze
- Dr. Otto Herschmann, saber fencer, Olympic silver; 100-m freestyle in swimming, Olympic silver
- Ellen Preis, foil fencer, 3-time world champion (1947, 1949, and 1950), Olympic champion, 17-time Austrian champion
Formula One
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Austria is a country with a very rich history in motor racing. Austria has produced two great formula one champions in Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda, plus Gerhard Berger, one of the most enduring stars of his time. There is consistently at least one Austrian driver in formula one and Austrian team Red Bull Racing is currently enjoying success in the sport. Unfortunately several drivers have suffered severe injuries and/or died in the sport. For this reason many say[who?] that Austria could have had more success if it were not for their bad luck.
- Gerhard Berger
- Harald Ertl, Died in 1982 due to an aircraft accident
- Patrick Friesacher, Drove for Minardi in 2005, scoring three points in the infamous 2005 United States Grand Prix
- Christian Klien, Drove for Red Bull Racing and HRT in F1.
- Niki Lauda, three time Formula one world champion
- Roland Ratzenberger, died in 1994 due to race related accident
- Jochen Rindt, Formula one world champion, died in 1970 due to race related accident
- Karl Wendlinger, currently driving in the FIA GT Championship
- Alexander Wurz, currently driving for Honda (as a test driver)
Football
Like many European countries football is a popular pastime in Austria. Austria has its own professional football league, the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The defending champion is Red Bull Salzburg. The league also includes the famous clubs SK Rapid Wien and SK Sturm Graz. FIFA currently ranks Austria's international men's team 77th and women's team 44th. Below is a list of football players from Austria.
- David Alaba – player
- Marko Arnautovic – player
- Andreas Herzog
- Josef Hickersberger, football player and coach
- Hans Krankl, football player and coach
- Božo Kovačević
- Emanuel Pogatetz
- Toni Polster
- Herbert Prohaska
- Paul Scharner – player
- Matthias Sindelar, nicknamed "the Mozart of football", Voted the greatest Austrian football player of all time.
- Toni Fritsch, former Austrian Soccer Player and former placekicker for several NFL teams
Hockey
Austria has had significant success in the sport of hockey. The IIHF currently ranks the men's team 17th and the women's team 20th. Below is a partial list of hockey players from Austria.
- Christoph Brandner, NHL hockey player
- Reinhard Divis, NHL hockey player
- Michael Grabner
- Thomas Vanek, NHL hockey player
Mountaineering
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Being a mountainous country, it is no surprise that Austria is home to some of the greatest and most recognizable mountaineers of all time. On 5 of all 14 Eight-thousanders Austrians have made the first ascent, more than any other nation can clame. There are also several mountains throughout the world in which Austrians have made the first accent. Below is a partial list of Mountaineers from Austria.
- Hermann Buhl, first ascent of Nanga Parbat (1953), first ascent of Broad Peak (1957)
- Kurt Diemberger, first ascents of Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960)
- Fritz Moravec, first ascent of Gasherbrum II together with Josef Larch and Hans Willenpart
- Marcus Schmuck, first ascent of Broad Peak (1957), initiator and leader of the OEAV Karakoram Expedition
- Herbert Tichy, first ascent of Cho Oyu
- Fritz Wintersteller, first ascent of Broad Peak (1957)
- Karl Blodig, first to climb all alpine mountains above 4000m
- Heinrich Harrer, first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid
- Peter Habeler, first ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen (together with Reinhold Messner)
- Ludwig Purtscheller, first ascent of Kilimanjaro (1889)
Skiing
Throughout history Austria has been the birthplace of many great skiers. Austria is 5th in the all time winter Olympics medal count and has won more alpine skiing world cups then any other nation (both individually and nationally). Below is a list of famous skiers from Austria.
- Armin Assinger
- Michaela Dorfmeister, Olympic champion
- Stephan Eberharter, Olympic champion
- Anna Fenninger, Olympic champion
- Andreas Goldberger, ski jumper
- Renate Götschl
- Christl Haas
- Marcel Hirscher
- Franz Klammer
- Hermann Maier, Olympic champion
- Ulrike Maier, Olympic ski champion (1967–1994)
- Patrick Ortlieb, Olympic champion
- Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Olympic champion
- Benjamin Raich, Olympic champion
- Karl Schnabl, ski jumper
- Karl Schranz
- Thomas Stangassinger, Olympic champion
- Hubert Strolz, Olympic champion
- Ernst Vettori, ski jumper
- Anita Wachter, Olympic champion
- Felix Gottwald, Olympic champion
- Toni Sailer, Won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing
Swimming
- Margarete "Grete" Adler, Olympic bronze (4x100-meter freestyle relay)
- Judith Haspel (born "Judith Deutsch"), held every Austrian women's middle and long distance freestyle record in 1935[1]
- Mirna Jukić
- Klara Milch, Olympic bronze (4x100-m freestyle relay)
- Paul Neumann, Olympic champion (500-m freestyle)
- Maxim Podoprigora, Olympic swimmer
- Markus Rogan
- Otto Scheff (born "Otto Sochaczewsky"), Olympic champion (400-m freestyle) and 2x bronze (400-m freestyle, 1,500-m freestyle)
- Josephine Sticker, Olympic bronze (4x100-m freestyle relay)
- Otto Wahle, 2x Olympic silver (1,000-m freestyle, 200-m obstacle race) and bronze (400-m freestyle); International Swimming Hall of Fame
Tennis
In recent years Austria's presence on the international tennis scene has grown significantly. The national teams on the davis and fed cup have climbed rapidly and many new stars are rising. Austria's Davis Cup team is currently ranked 16th while their Fed Cup team is doing very well in 7th. Austria has also produced a former world number one and French Open champion in Thomas Muster. Below is a list of Austrian Tennis Players.
- Werner Eschauer
- Nikola Hofmanova
- Melanie Klaffner
- Julian Knowle
- Daniel Köllerer
- Stefan Koubek
- Oliver Marach
- Patricia Mayr
- Jürgen Melzer
- Yvonne Meusburger
- Thomas Muster, Former World No. 1, 1995 French Open Champion
- Tamira Paszek
- Barbara Paulus
- Alexander Peya
- Felix Pipes, Olympic silver (doubles)
- Sylvia Plischke
- Barbara Schett
- Barbara Schwartz
Other notables
- Kate Allen, triathlete (Olympic champion 2004)
- Richard Bergmann, table tennis, 7-time world champion, Hall of Fame
- Fritzi Burger, figure skater, Olympic 2x silver, World Championship 2x silver
- Judith Deutsch, champion swimmer
- Toni Fritsch, NFL football player, Super Bowl VI champion
- Andreas Geritzer, sailor
- Stephanie Graf, runner (not related to German tennis player Steffi Graf)
- Hans Haas, weightlifter, Olympic champion (lightweight), silver
- Roman Hagara, sailor (Olympic champion 2000 & 2004 with Hans-Peter Steinacher)
- Claudia Heill, judoka
- Mickey Hirschl, wrestler, 2x Olympic bronze (heavyweight freestyle and Greco-Roman)
- Emese Hunyady, speed skater (Olympic champion 1994)
- Felix Kasper, figure skater, Olympic bronze
- Fred Oberlander, wrestler; world champion (freestyle heavyweight)
- Nicole Trimmel, kickboxer
- Werner Schlager, table tennis player (world champion 2003)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, body builder
- Peter Seisenbacher, judoka (Olympic champion 1984 & 1988)
- Christoph Sieber, surfer (Olympic champion 2000)
- Hans-Peter Steinacher, sailor (Olympic champion 2000 & 2004 with Roman Hagara)
- Elisabeth Theurer, horse rider
- Georg Totschnig, cyclist
- Jasmin Ouschan, pool-billiards player
References
- ↑ "Diving into troubled waters", Paul Kalina, The Age, November 24, 2005, Retrieved January 1, 2011
