Karl: "How drunk"

Gasser and Karl are Austria’s flag bearers!

Snowboarders Anna Gasser and Benjamin Karl with a special performance at the opening of the Olympic Games.(Bild: AFP/CAMERON SPENCER)

The two Olympic snowboard champions Anna Gasser and Benjamin Karl led the Austrian team as flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo on Friday – and caused a little surprise!

"We've got something in mind," Karl announced on ORF a few hours before the opening ceremony, "but we haven't rehearsed it yet."

(Bild: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

They didn't have to! When the two entered Livigno as our flag bearers, Gasser cut a fine figure on Karl's shoulders, even if waving the flag seemed a little more difficult.

"Hopefully it won't knock us over."
"We were really a little nervous. Also because the flag was heavier than we thought," our snowboard queen told the "Krone." "Then there was the downhill and the soft snow. I just thought, hopefully we won't fall. It wasn't that easy to wave this flag."

Anna Gasser and Benjamin Karl with the Krone newspaper after carrying the flag.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Karl: "I felt like I was drowning—because I was wobbling around so much. But we had a lot of fun." 

Stefan Kraft and Jan Hörl thrilled the crowd with a little dance as they entered Predazzo. Meanwhile, our luge athletes arrived at the San Siro in Milan with a smaller red-white-red delegation. 

ÖOC President Nussbaumer confident
Austria's medal hopes, with the ÖOC sending a total of 115 athletes to Italy, were given a ceremonial send-off on Tuesday evening. "We have such a great team at the start," emphasized ÖOC President Horst Nussbaumer. Everything is set, with the 18 medals from Beijing serving as the benchmark. "I can say with confidence: We are a global player in winter sports, and we will show that there. Milano/Cortina, here we come."

(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Roswitha Stadlober was also confident about the medal hunt. "We are underdogs, but also favorites. We have everything up our sleeve, and it will turn out well," announced the ÖSV president. In addition to Gasser and Karl, snowboard crosser Alessandro Hämmerle, the third of five individual Olympic champions in Beijing, was also present at the farewell ceremony. Ski racer Johannes Strolz missed out on the Olympic ticket for Italy, while Matthias Mayer has ended his skiing career. The ski jumping team and the alpine skiing team also celebrated their Olympic victory in China.

Austria's flag bearers at the Winter Olympics since 1948:

• 1948 in St. Moritz – Peter Grießler (winter pentathlon)

• 1952 in Oslo – Sepp Bradl (ski jumping)

• 1956 in Cortina d'Ampezzo – Toni Sailer (alpine skiing)

• 1960 in Squaw Valley – Norbert Felsinger (figure skating)

• 1964 in Innsbruck – Regine Heitzer (figure skating)

• 1968 in Grenoble – Emmerich Danzer (figure skating)

• 1972 in Sapporo – Manfred Schmid (luge)

• 1976 in Innsbruck – Franz Klammer (alpine skiing)

• 1980 in Lake Placid – Annemarie Moser (alpine skiing)

• 1984 in Sarajevo – Franz Klammer (alpine skiing)

• 1988 in Calgary – Leonhard Stock (alpine skiing)

• 1992 in Albertville – Anita Wachter (alpine skiing)

• 1994 in Lillehammer – Anita Wachter (alpine skiing)

• 1998 in Nagano – Emese Hunyady (speed skating)

• 2002 in Salt Lake City – Angelika Neuner (luge)

• 2006 in Turin – Renate Götschl (alpine skiing)

• 2010 in Vancouver – Andreas Linger (luge)

• 2014 in Sochi – Mario Stecher (Nordic combined)

• 2018 in Pyeongchang – Anna Veith (alpine skiing)

• 2022 in Beijing – Julia Dujmovits (snowboarding) and Benjamin Maier (bobsleigh)

• 2026 in Milan/Cortina – Anna Gasser/Benjamin Karl (both snowboarding)