On Saturday, the Ministry of Sports flexed its muscles together with the local sports associations at the Day of Sports and thrilled more than 200,000 sports fans when they returned to Vienna’s Heldenplatz. Movement with encounters and a lot of stars were the order of the day at the 23rd edition of Austria’s largest open-air sporting event. The enthusiasm also spread to the sports stars, more than 400 of whom were honored for their achievements.
What a comeback! For the first time since 2015, Sports Day took place at Heldenplatz, which, in perfect conditions, was transformed into a place for sports heroes. In bright sunshine and late summer temperatures of around 24 degrees, thousands of people flocked to Heldenplatz to celebrate Austria’s largest sports festival in the heart of Vienna.
“I think it’s really great that we’re back at Heldenplatz. It is also important that we offer the sport such a big stage. Because the top athletes and their successes at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, World and European Championships serve as role models and this has an impact on popular sports. And both should be depicted on Sports Day. It is something like our flagship,” explained Vice Chancellor and Sports Minister Werner Kogler.
Tennis superstar Dominic Thiem, who will be serving for the last time at the upcoming Erste Bank Open and therefore attending the sports day for the last time as an active athlete, was also enthusiastic. “It’s sensational how many people came today and celebrated the sport. That’s extremely worth it. Things are a little more special at Heldenplatz. I am very happy to have been here.”
FESTIVAL LINEUP OF SPORTS STARS
But Thiem was far from the only sports star that the numerous fans got to see up close. More than 400 local sports greats – including the newly crowned Olympic champions Lara Vadlau, Lukas Mähr and Valentin Bontus as well as European javelin throw champion Victoria Hudson, judoka Michaela Polleres, climbing ace Jessica Pilz, combined athlete Johannes Lamparter, the newly crowned double rowing world champion Magdalena Lobnig, skiing -Legend Benjamin Raich and many more – were available for selfies, autographs and conversations.
Swimmer Heiko Gigler, who was happy to see Valentin Bontus again, caused a laugh on the main stage: “I carried him on my shoulders at his medal celebration in the Austria House, but the “revenge” is still pending. I hope that we can drink a beer together today,” said the Carinthian.
But something else was also donated on the day of sports. For all honored athletes, the Ministry of Sports once again offered tree sponsorships instead of trophies. As part of the “Tree Buddy” environmental project, the athletes’ forest has been created in Upper Austria since 2021, which literally “grows” with the successes of the local stars and now has almost 1,500 trees.
For the second time, as part of Sports Day, the volunteer award in the categories of young functionary, equality, sustainability, inclusion, integration and life’s work was presented by Vice Chancellor and Minister of Sports Werner Kogler together with Sport Austria President Hans Niessl, table tennis ace Liu Jia and Paralympics legend Walter Ablinger awarded. “With this prize we would like to thank those people whose voluntary commitment helps keep our society moving,” said Kogler about the 50,000 euro prize. In addition to the prize money, the first-placed clubs will each receive 2,500 euros for a club party.
The Republic’s decorations of honor were then awarded to 20 particularly successful athletes for the period 2018 to 2023, reviving a sports tradition that had been thought forgotten. Among the award winners: Olympic ski jumping champion Jan Hörl, para-swimmer Andreas Ernhofer and bobsleigh Benny Maier.
WORLD RECORD BROKEN
Another of the many highlights at Heldenplatz was Daniel Krobath’s world record attempt. The calisthenics ace wanted to break the world record for the most push-ups in an hour – and actually did it. Krobath pulverized the old mark (2,245) by 158 pieces and ended up at 2,403. This means that the Carinthian is guaranteed an entry in the “Guinness World Records Book”.
“It was a good day, maybe not the perfect one as I was actually aiming for 2,500. But of course it’s cool that I broke the world record. “Thank you for all the cheering and support,” said Krobath, delighted with his historic performance, for which he was wildly celebrated by the fans.
PREMIERE OF A NEW SPORT
Baseball5, the street version of the US classic, which was presented for the first time in Austria at Sports Day, also caused great enthusiasm. The Austrian Baseball Federation used the stage at Heldenplatz for a show match in a class of its own, with baseball stars from the national team – such as European champion Jan Raunigger and Japanese legionnaire Alexander Resel – and stars from other sports.
3×3 basketball player Matthias Linortner, Superliga MVP Lisa Zderadicka (basketball), 118-time national player Sonja Frey (handball), EWHL record player Charlotte Wittich (ice hockey) also tried out the new trend sport on the pop-up court under the castle gate. and two-time Olympian David Hussel (sailing). They were all enthusiastic about the short and action-packed version of baseball and softball, which requires no bats or gloves, is suitable for young and old alike and can be played on any surface.
“Baseball without bats sounds strange, but it makes sense because the barrier to entry is very low for everyone. “It was a cool experience to get to know the sport,” said Wittich enthusiastically.
FORECAST OF COMING MAJOR EVENTS
The Day of Sports not only served as the starting signal for the European Week of Sports (September 23rd to 30th, 2024), but was also the harbinger of the coming months, where one major event on home soil follows the next.
Red-white-red sports fans are looking forward to the European Table Tennis Championships (October 15th – 20th), the European Handball Championships (November 28th – December 15th) and the World Ski Championships (December 16th) in the next few months. – March 24, 2025) three major events in Austria.
Those three major events were also in the spotlight at Sports Day, as visitors to the big sports festival at Heldenplatz were able to win high-quality VIP packages. There were also numerous sports vouchers, signed jerseys, sporty goodie bags and much more in the raffle.
If you couldn’t be there live or want to review the day again, you can do so online. As usual, the entire day of sports was broadcast live in three streams – main stage, hall of fame and studio – on www.sportpassaustria.at. All interviews from the sports studio day with top-class guests from sports, politics and business are available online to watch and enjoy.
More stories, pictures and videos from the 23rd day of sport can be found at www.tagdessports.at.