News about Austrians in the USA

Thousands attend Innsbruck event for Olympic medal winners

Thousands of people attended the official reception in Innsbruck, Tyrol, yesterday (Tues) evening for Austria's Vancouver Winter Olympic medal winners.

Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) President Karl Stoss, People's Party (ÖVP) Governor Günther Platter and Innsbruck Mayor-designate Christine Oppitz-Plörer congratulated the athletes.

Each gold medal winner received 17 Philharmonic coins worth 14,110 Euros, each silver medal winner got 13 such coins worth 10,790 Euros and each bronze medal winner took home 11 coins worth 9,130 Euros.

The Austrian Olympic team comprising of 81 athletes can look back with some satisfaction at the Vancouver Games, with the country finishing among the top ten winners of medals.

Austria ranks ninth with four gold, six silver and six bronze medals. The 16 medals constitute the country's third best result at the Winter Olympic Games.

It wasn't all celebrations though, with the event being marred for members of the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) delegation to the Vancouver Games who landed in Innsbruck without their baggage, which had remained in Frankfurt after their flight from Canada was late in arriving.

An Austrian Airlines (AUA) spokeswoman said the recent Lufthansa pilots' strike and the intense low-pressure weather system nicknamed Cynthia that severely damaged parts of northwestern Europe last weekend were to blame.

And disappointingly, Austria is also tied with Russia for fourth place finishes in 86 events.

The team's biggest disappointment was the poor performance of the men's Alpine skiing team, who failed to reach the podium.

ÖSV invests more money than its counterparts in other countries in its World Cup Alpine skiing team and the infrastructure built up around it.

It was the first time Austria's male skiing team had failed to win any silverware at the Olympic Games with the exception of the 1936 event, when Austria's skiers were banned for breaching the rules for amateur athletes by having worked as ski instructors.

Benjamin Raich, who won gold in the 2006 Olympic slalom and giant slalom, said after finishing fourth in Saturday's slalom: "The whole team is extremely disappointed, of course."

ÖSV president Peter Schröcksnadel claimed: "Everyone who says our system is wrecked is wrong. What are you supposed to do if so many athletes finish in fourth place?"

Schröcksnadel dismissed calls for coaches to be replaced. But added he was considering changes in certain structures. It is expected that the skiing training group system will be restructured.

Source: Austrian Times