1500 enthusiastic children

“Olympic Day really makes you want to do sport”

The coveted discus star Lukas Weißhaidinger(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

What a day of sporting celebration on the Gugl in Linz! The Olympic Day with many top stars inspired 1500 children and young people as well as numerous adult visitors. The sports heroes themselves also had a lot of fun, one of whom got his ticket for Paris on Olympic Day of all days.

Cool sports arenas instead of dull school buildings! Olympic stars to touch instead of teachers! Lots of exercise instead of long periods of sitting at a school desk:
For the 1500 children and young people in particular - but also for the "big" visitors - yesterday's Olympic Day on the Gugl in Linz was a real day of joy in movement! There were cool demonstrations, autograph sessions, activity stations and, above all, visitors were able to try out numerous sports on site and get tips from stars such as Lukas Weißhaidinger (discus), Jakob Schubert (climbing), Sofia Polcanova (table tennis), Michaela Polleres (judo) and Bettina Plank (karate).

Climbing star Jakob Schubert gave valuable tips(Bild: GEPA pictures)

On the climbing wall and it went round and round
"I tried five or six sports as a child until I found mine," said discus giant Lukas Weißhaidinger, while the kids were testing their speed on the running track. There was also the climbing wall, where scrambling star Jakob Schubert gave advice and said: "Maybe some people will stick with sport!"

The coveted discus star Lukas Weißhaidinger(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

"You really get into sport here," laughed Marlene (14), Vici (15) and Paula (15) from HAK Kirchdorf. Which is so important in times like these! "Unfortunately, the physical condition of many children is generally not good. It's great that they come into contact with sport here," says three-time Olympic medal winner Christoph Sumann. 

Olympic Day for the Paris ticket: Collins Filimon(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Hoping for many encores
"What better way to win children over to the values of respect, friendship and top performance than with our top athletes," said Christoph Sieber from the Austrian Olympic Committee. Like so many children's eyes, the eyes of table tennis legend Liu Jia shone during the stadium tours in the Raiffeisen Arena and the autograph session with LASK players Robert Zulj and Philipp Ziereis in the packed table tennis and badminton hall in the Olympic Center, who said: "My big wish would be for events like this to happen more often!" One badminton ace was also in a great mood: Collins Filimon from ASKÖ Traun cleared the last hurdle after the sporting one, was granted citizenship on Olympic Day of all days and will be competing in Paris.