After the end of the public vote, it is half time for the 50th edition of the election for Upper Austria’s athlete of the year, which the OÖN is holding together with the Sportland Upper Austria and the ORF. In the last few weeks it was the fans’ turn and voted for their favorites on nachrichten.at. When it comes to clicks, no one could beat handball champion HC Linz AG, exceptional water skier Nicola Kuhn and gymnastics whiz Paul Schmölzer. The final word now goes to a jury of experts (see below), which votes on the ranking of the best ten per category. The audience result is included in this.
“For us, the half-time win is already an exclamation mark,” says Moritz Bachmann, captain of HC Linz. “A stage like this helps to give our entire sport a higher status in Upper Austria,” says the 24-year-old. The many votes for handball players come as no surprise. The upswing of the past few years has awakened a little of the fan potential that has been lying dormant around Linz since the European Cup adventures of around 30 years ago.
The championship title in June was the first in 27 years. Bachmann is sure that this dynamic has now also been reflected in the audience’s choice. “It’s a question of how every club can mobilize its fans,” says the backcourt player, whose club is ahead of the volleyball players from the Steelvolleys Linz-Steg and the athletics stronghold TGW Decathlon Union.
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Source: Nachrichten
