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Sports are widely practiced inAustria, both in professional and amateur competitions. The most popular sports areassociation football,alpine skiing andice hockey.
Due to the mountainous terrain,alpine skiing is a prominent sport in Austria. Similar sports such assnowboarding andski jumping are also widely popular, and Austrian athletes such asAnnemarie Moser-Pröll,Hermann Maier,Toni Sailer andMarcel Hirscher 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 theWinter Olympics,FIS Alpine World Ski Championships andFIS Ski Jumping World Cup. At theFIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011, it took all five ski jumping gold medals. As of 2001, about a third of the 230 Olympic medals which had been won by Austrian sportspeople had been awarded in alpine skiing, and another 30 percent had been won in other winter sports, whilst a quarter of all golds at the Alpine Skiing World Championships had been won by Austrians.[1] TheWinter Olympics were held in the town ofInnsbruck in the years of1964 and1976. Success at the elite level also helps to promote ski tourism and related industries: ski tourism and equipment manufacturing account for five percent of the country'sgross national product, with half of the world's alpine skis being made in Austria. Around 40 percent of the Austrian population takes part in alpine skiing.[1]
There are 12 professional ice hockey teams in theAustrian Hockey League, which also features one team each team from theCzech Republic,Hungary,Italy andSlovenia.
Bobsleigh,luge, andskeleton are also popular events, with a permanent track located inIgls, which hosted bobsleigh and luge competitions for the1964 and1976 Winter Olympics held inInnsbruck. Thefirst Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 were held in Innsbruck as well.[2]
Football is the most popular sport in Austria, which is governed by theAustrian Football Association.[3] Austria was once among the most successful football playing nations on the European continent, placing fourth at the1934 FIFA World Cup, third at the1954 FIFA World Cup, and seventh at the1978 FIFA World Cup. However, recently Austria has been much less internationally successful in this discipline; Austria has not qualified for a World Cup since1998. Austria co-hosted the2008 UEFA European Football Championship with Switzerland.
Notable tennis players includeThomas Muster, winner of the1995 French Open singles tournament;Dominic Thiem, winner of the2020 US Open men's singles and finalist of the 2018 and 2019 French Open men's singles and 2020 Australian Open men's singles tournaments;Jürgen Melzer, world number 11 in the2010 ATP World Tour and winner of the 2010 Wimbledon and 2011 US Open doubles tournaments;Barbara Schett, number 8 in the1999 WTA Tour singles rankings; andBarbara Paulus, world number 13 in the1996 WTA Tour singles rankings.
Motorsport is the third most popular spectator sport in Austria (after skiing and football).[1] TheAustrian Grand Prix is aFormula 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 196524 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 areÖsterreichring andSalzburgring. The former hosted the Austrian Grand Prix, theAustrian motorcycle Grand Prix, and the1000 km Zeltweg endurance sports car race. The latter has also held the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix, theSuperbike World Championship, theEuropean Formula Two Championship, and the top German series such as theDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and theSuper Tourenwagen Cup.
The country's prime basketball league is theÖsterreichische 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 theEuroBasket six times. Since then, the team declined despite occasional strong showings atEuroBasket qualification games.
The most prominent Austrian basketball player today isJakob Pöltl, who became the country's firstNBA player in the2016–17 season after having been selected by theToronto Raptors in the first round of the2016 NBA draft.
Austria is an emerging country for3x3 basketball.[4]
Austria is an active member of theWDSF and hosts many annual competitions such asAustrian Open and world championships. Austrian dance athletes are noticeable in the world.
PopularizingDanceSport, Austrian television holds annualDancing Stars show that enjoys its9th season as of 2014.
Austria featured national teams inbeach volleyball that competed at the2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in both the women's and the men's sections.[7]
Media related toSports in Austria at Wikimedia Commons
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