It has been a fixed point in local sport since 1975: Today the election for the athletes of the year, carried out by the OÖN together with the state of Upper Austria, is starting its 48th edition. Even when many areas of everyday life came to a standstill during the Corona pandemic, the largest stage was kept open for Upper Austria’s athletes to fulfill their task of focusing on those who are sometimes not always in the spotlight. Anyone who makes it into the list of winners belongs to the “Hall of Fame” of Upper Austrian sport. There are no losers, every vote cast is applause for a winner.
Lots of promising candidates
Last year, the two Olympic bronze medalists Bettina Plank (karate) and Lukas Weißhaidinger (athletics) were able to wear the gold medal. Anyone who reviews the current season suspects that defending their titles could be difficult. The competition is strong: exceptional talent Sofia Polcanova was busy campaigning with two titles at the European Table Tennis Championships in Munich and the already very popular ski king Vincent Kriechmayr raced to victory in the Lauberhorn classic – to name just two contenders.
The Steelvolleys Linz-Steg did the best they could by winning the volleyball doubles this year to possibly defend their victory in the election last year. However, the early form of the election record winner LASK (eleven titles) could awaken its great fan potential.
A special feature of our election is the “barrier-free” voting option: There is no separate category for para athletes. In 1996, Christoph Etzlstorfer was the first disabled athlete to be celebrated as the winner of the election, at that time he relegated ski jumping high-flyer Andreas Goldberger to second place. This year, two para-athletes, Yvonne Marzinke (bike) and Florian Brungraber (triathlon), were nominated for the “shortlist” (see below). And rightly so, because when you are looking for the best in Upper Austria, only performance counts.
The election mode – the jury has the last word
The nominees: 20 candidates per category (women, men, teams) were shortlisted for the ballot paper by representatives of the umbrella and trade associations, the OÖ Nachrichten, the ORF Oberösterreich and the Sportlandes Oberösterreich. Other athletes or teams cannot be selected.
The Audience Choice runs from today through October 21st. You can only vote with the ballot papers from the OÖN editions or online at nachrichten.at/sportlerwahl. Copied ballots are invalid.
The decision: The top ten of the public choice come to the final, in which a jury of experts has the last word by awarding points. The ranking of the audience choice is included in the final decision.
Source: Nachrichten
