115-strong squad

Olympic team: They’re going for medals for us!

The Winter Olympics will take place in Milan/Cortina.(Bild: AFP/STEFANO RELLANDINI)

On Monday, the Austrian Olympic Committee nominated 52 female and 63 male athletes for the Winter Games in Milan/Cortina, which begin on February 6. The 115-strong squad is the largest since Sochi 2014 (130). 

The quota places have been largely filled, and Austria will be represented at all venues in Italy and South Tyrol. The medal bar is set high, with seven gold and silver medals and four bronze medals won four years ago in Beijing.

Here is an overview of the team (swipe right):

ÖOC President announces medal target
"We can hold our heads high. We have established athletes who can be counted among the medal contenders. We have newcomers who can spring surprises. Spread across all regions and sports," said ÖOC President Horst Nussbaumer. He set the Beijing Games as the "benchmark" target. "The number of medals should be achievable again."

Horst Nussbaumer(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

Three gold medalists from 2022 are participating
With Anna Gasser, Benjamin Karl, and Alessandro Hämmerle, three of the five gold medalists from 2022 are participating again. Ski racer Johannes Strolz was not considered, and Matthias Mayer has already ended his career. Ricarda Haaser is missing from the 11-strong alpine team, but she has not yet regained her performance level after her injury. The women will compete for medals in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the men in Bormio. Ski mountaineering will also make its Olympic debut there, with Austrian participation in both the women's and men's events (one each).

Anna Gasser(Bild: GEPA)

Olga Mikutina, a figure skater, will be competing in the indoor ice competitions in Milan, along with three speed skaters and one short track speed skater. The ice track in Cortina could prove to be a successful track for Austria's skeleton (3 ÖOC athletes), bobsleigh (12), and luge (11) teams, including the double-seater duo Selina Egle/Lara Kipp, who have been so successful this winter.

Most athletes in Livigno
Austria is most strongly represented in Livigno, where all medal decisions in snowboarding (16 ÖOC athletes), ski cross (7), and freestyle/freeski (6) are scheduled. Biathlon will take place in Antholz (9), while medals will be awarded in ski jumping (8), cross-country skiing (8) and Nordic combined (3) in Predazzo/Tesero. The latter is the only discipline in which there are no women's competitions. Austria's best Nordic combined athlete, Lisa Hirner, will compete in the special jumping event.

Broken down by federal state, 41 athletes come from Tyrol, 21 from Salzburg, 12 from Styria, 11 each from Vorarlberg and Carinthia, 10 from Lower Austria, 6 from Upper Austria, and 3 from Vienna. The youngest athlete is freestyle snowboarder Hanna Karrer, who turns 18 on February 6. The oldest active athlete is alpine snowboarder Claudia Riegler, who will be competing at the age of 52. Her fellow athlete Andreas Prommegger is looking forward to his sixth participation, which is more than any other member of the ÖOC team for Italy.

You have to build up your courage and show what is possible.

Katrin Beierl

Beijing Olympic champion Karl was present at the nomination press conference and said that he was happy to have another chance to win a medal. "And that at 40. You have to stay hungry to win." Giant slalom skier Julia Scheib is looking forward to her debut, and at the same time she will also be skiing in Cortina for the first time ever. "I don't see that as either an advantage or a disadvantage." For bobsledder Katrin Beierl, participating means "the world." She suffered a stroke in 2022 and did not give up. "You have to muster up courage and show what is possible."

Austria's team for the XXV Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina:
BIATHLON (9):
Women (5): Anna Andexer, Anna Gandler, Lisa Hauser, Anna Juppe, Tamara Steiner
Men (4): Simon Eder, Patrick Jakob, Fabian Müllauer, Dominic Unterweger

BOB (12):
Women (4): Katrin Beierl, Victoria Festin, Lea Haslwanter, Christania Williams. Substitute: Nicola Pichler
Men (8): Daniel Bertschler, Kristian Huber, Jakob Mandlbauer, Sebastian Mitterer, Daiyehan-Obafemi Nichols-Bardi, Markus Sammer, Sascha Stepan, Markus Treichl. Substitute: Leo Sares

FIGURE SKATING (1):
Women (1): Olga Mikutina

SPEED SKATING (6):
Women (3): Vanessa Herzog, Anna Molnar, Jeannine Rosner
Men (3): Alexander Farthofer, Ignaz Gschwentner, Gabriel Odor

NORDIC COMBINED (3):
Men (3): Johannes Lamparter, Thomas Rettenegger, Stefan Rettenegger

LUGE (11):
Women (5): Selina Egle, Lara Kipp, Hannah Prock, Lisa Schulte, Dorothea Schwarz
Men (6): Juri Gatt, Nico Gleirscher, Wolfgang Kindl, Jonas Müller, Riccardo Schöpf, Thomas Steu

SHORT TRACK (1):
Men (1): Nicolas Andermann

SKELETON (3):
Women (1): Janine Flock
Men (2): Florian Auer, Samuel Maier

ALPINE SKIING (22):
Women (11): Nina Astner, Stephanie Brunner, Katharina Gallhuber, Lisa Hörhager, Katharina Huber, Cornelia Hütter, Nina Ortlieb, Mirjam Puchner, Ariane Rädler, Julia Scheib, Katharina Truppe
Men (11): Stefan Babinsky, Stefan Brennsteiner, Manuel Feller, Lukas Feurstein, Patrick Feurstein, Fabio Gstrein, Raphael Haaser, Daniel Hemetsberger, Vincent Kriechmayr, Michael Matt, Marco Schwarz

SKI MOUNTAINEERING (2)
Women (1): Johanna Hiemer
Men (1): Paul Verbnjak

SKI CROSS (7):
Women (3): Christina Födermayr, Sonja Gigler, Katrin Ofner
Men (4): Johannes Aujesky, Christoph Danksagmüller, Nicolas Lussnig, Adam Kappacher

SKI FREESTYLE / FREESKI (6):
Big Air, Slopestyle, Halfpipe:
Women (1): Lara Wolf

Men (3): Samuel Baumgartner, Julius Forer, Matej Svancer
Moguls:
Women (2): Avital Carroll, Katharina Ramsauer

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING (8):
Women (5): Lisa Achleitner, Katharina Brudermann, Heidi Bucher, Magdalena Scherz, Teresa Stadlober
Men (3): Michael Föttinger, Benjamin Moser, Mika Vermeulen

SKI JUMPING (8):
Women (4): Lisa Eder, Lisa Hirner, Julia Mühlbacher, Meghann Wadsak
Men (4): Stephan Embacher, Jan Hörl, Stefan Kraft, Daniel Tschofenig

SNOWBOARDING (16):
Alpine skiing (7):
Women (3): Martina Ankele, Sabine Payer, Claudia Riegler
Men (4): Benjamin Karl, Fabian Obmann, Alexander Payer, Andreas Prommegger
Cross (5):
Women (1): Pia Zerkhold
Men (4): Jakob Dusek, Alessandro Hämmerle, Lukas Pachner, David Pickl
Freestyle (4) – Big Air, Slopestyle, Halfpipe:
Women (2): Anna Gasser, Hanna Karrer
Men (2): Florian Lechner, Clemens Millauer