After three years of keeping your distance, yesterday in the ballroom of the Palais Kaufmännischer Verein in Linz, the traditional award ceremony for the local athletes’ election finally took place again. With the return to normality, there was a reunion with familiar winners: Yesterday’s election victory was a special déjà vu for European table tennis champion Sofia Polcanova, ski ace Vincent Kriechmayr and the volleyball women of the Linz steel volleyball team. All of them had already been the first choice in this freestyle.
While the volleyball players were able to lay the foundation for defending their title in the public vote and easily brought their lead over the finish line in the final jury vote in front of the athletics stronghold TGW Zehnkampf Union and the Steyrer Hrinkow-Radlern, Kriechmayr had to tremble for his half-time win. Judo ace Shamil Borchashvili was number one for most of the jury members. The World Cup bronze medalist was able to make up a lot of ground on Kriechmayr in eighth place in the public vote, and in the end the Mühlviertler was only five points ahead in his second election victory after 2020.
Departure to North America
Kriechmayr, who is flying to North America for the overseas races on Tuesday and therefore sent his sister Jacoba to the award ceremony as a precaution, also owes this success to his chosen partner Nicola Kuhn. The water ski acrobat, who won bronze in the trick competition at the European Championships this year, brought the alpine skier on board with her dedicated election campaign and also diligently collected votes for Kriechmayr. As the winner of the public vote, Kuhn was overtaken by Polcanova and track and field athlete Susanne Gogl-Walli after the jury had awarded points, and she managed her first podium finish in third place. Third behind Kriechmayr and Borchashvili was triathlete Florian Brungraber, who held up the flag of the para athletes in the traditional election in third place. Last year Paralympic champion Walter Ablinger was third.
A bow
With a deep bow, Sabrina Filzmoser said goodbye to the world of judo at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year. Yesterday, Upper Austria’s sport bowed to the woman who shaped a sport like no other in this country for two and a half decades: At the OÖN athletes’ election, the 42-year-old was honored with the “Golden Leo” in the Palais Kaufmännischer Verein in Linz – a special prize for outstanding merits and performances, named after the deceased OÖN head of sports, Leo Strasser. An award that best covers her broad and social commitment to the sport of judo – from the “big sister” she was to Olympic bronze medalist Shamil Borchashvili, to being a role model for several judo generations.
The big award ceremony
Around 300 invited guests – including Governor Thomas Stelzer – celebrated the best athletes in Upper Austria yesterday in the Palais Kaufmännischer Verein in Linz. After two years of a corona-related break, this traditional end of work could finally take place again.
A photo gallery and videos can be found on nachrichten.at, ORF2 will bring a summary today from 7 p.m. (Federal State today). You will find reactions and impressions from the award ceremony tomorrow in the OÖ Nachrichten.
ladies
- 1. Sofia Polcanova, table tennis, 142 points
- 2. Susanne Gogl-Walli, athletics, 125
- 3. Nicola Kuhn, water skiing, 91
- 4. Lena Kreundl, swimming, 82
- 5. Clara Sommer, cycling, 76
- 6. Franziska Sterrer*, climbing, 76
- 7. Laura Wienroither, soccer, 66
- 8. Emma Dallinger, Fistball, 65
- 9.Victoria Hahn, weightlifting, 51
- 10.Emily Starzer*, judo, 51
Men’s
- 1. Vincent Kriechmayr, alpine skiing, 129
- 2.Shamil Borchashvili, Judo, 124
- 3. Florian Brungraber, Paratriathlon, 102nd
- 4. Rainer Kepplinger, cycling, 88
- 5. Thomas Preining, Motorsports, 87
- 6. Lukas Weißhaidinger, athletics, 86
- 7. Daniel Hemetsberger, alpine skiing, 78
- 8. Kevin Kamenschak, Athletics, 55
- 9. Daniel Friedrich, basketball, 43
- 10. Sargis Martirosyan, weightlifting, 33
teams
- 1. Steel volleys Linz-Steg, volleyball, 138
- 2. TGW decathlon union, athletics, 108th
- 3. Hrinkow Advarics Cycleang, cycling, 101
- 4. LASK, soccer, 91
- 5. HC Linz AG, handball, 83
- 6. Union Tigers Vöcklabruck, fistball, 82
- 7. OCS Swans Gmunden, basketball, 77
- 8. LZ Multikraft Wels, judo, 65
- 9th RRC Top Show ASKÖ Traun, Rock ‘n’ Roll, 48
- 10. SK Vöest Linz, weightlifting, 32
* In the event of a tie, the result of the public vote decides
Source: Nachrichten
