Sport in Austria

Austrian Hockey League match between KAC and VSV
Mirjam Puchner at the Austrian Junior Skiing Championship

Sport is widely practised in Austria both in professional and amateur competitions. The most popular sports are association football, alpine skiing and ice hockey.

Winter sports

Due to the mountainous terrain, alpine skiing is a prominent sport in Austria. Similar sports such as snowboarding and ski jumping are also widely popular, and Austrian athletes such as Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Hermann Maier, and Toni Sailer are widely regarded as some of the greatest alpine skiers of all time. Austria has been the number one nation in alpine skiing and leading nation in ski jumping in the Winter Olympics, FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011, it took all 5 gold medals. The Winter Olympics here held in the town of Innsbruck in the years of 1964 and 1976.

There are 12 professional ice hockey teams in the Austrian Hockey League, which also features one team each team from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia.

Association football

Red Bull Arena, home of FC Red Bull Salzburg.

A popular team sport in Austria is association football, which is governed by the Austrian Football Association.[1] Austria was once among the most successful football playing nations on the European continent, placing fourth at the 1934 FIFA World Cup, third at the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and seventh at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. However, recently Austrian football has been much less internationally successful in this discipline; Austria not qualified for a World Cup since 1998. It also co-hosted the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship with Switzerland.

Basketball

The country's prime basketball league is the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga. Several of its teams have participated in European competitions.

Until the late 70s, Austria was one of Europe's main teams as it qualified for the EuroBasket six times. Since then, the team declined despite occasional strong showings at EuroBasket qualification games.

The most prominent Austrian basketball player today is Jakob Pöltl, who (barring misfortune) will become the country's first NBA player in the upcoming 2016–17 season after having been selected by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft.

Rugby union

Other sports

Bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton are also popular events, with a permanent track located in Igls, which hosted bobsleigh and luge competitions for the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck. The first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 were held in Innsbruck as well.[2]

Motorsport

Niki Lauda, three-time FOrmula One champion

The Austrian Grand Prix is a Formula One race held in 1963, 1964, from 1970 to 1987, from 1997 to 2003 and since 2014. Several Austrian drivers have competed successfully in Formula One. Niki Lauda is a three-time champion (1975, 1977 and 1984) and seventh winningest driver with 25. Jochen Rindt was crowned 1970 champion, after being killed in practice for a race; he also won the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans. Gerhard Berger ranked third in 1988 and 1994, and has collected 10 wins and 48 podiums.

The top two motorsport venues are Österreichring and Salzburgring. The former hosted the Austrian Grand Prix, the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix, and the 1000 km Zeltweg endurance sports car race. The latter has also held the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix, the Superbike World Championship, the European Formula Two Championship, and top German series such as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and the Super Tourenwagen Cup.

DanceSport in Austria

Austria is an active member of the WDSF and hosts many annual competitions such as Austrian Open and world championships. Austrian dance athletes are noticeable in the world.

Popularizing DanceSport, Austrian television holds annual Dancing Stars show that enjoys its 9th season as of 2014.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Österreichischer Fußballbund". ÖFB (in German). 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  2. ↑ "YOG Innsbruck 2012: Relive the announcement". International Olympic Committee. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  3. ↑ Results of World Latin Show 2015
  4. ↑ Results of Word Championship Show Dance Standard 2015
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Winter sports in Austria.

Media related to Sports in Austria at Wikimedia Commons

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