Today in Vienna, the Austrian Olympic Committee (OEOC) and the Austrian Fencing Federation organised a birthday celebration to honour Ellen Mueller-Preis’ 95th birthday. 

Born 6th May 1912, Ms Mueller-Preis is the only Austrian to ever become an Olympic Fencing Champion. In 1930 at the age of 18, she became Austrian National Champion and one year later took bronze at the European Championships.

In 1932, after a long journey by boat and by train to compete at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she rose to new heights of achievement by winning the Fencing Gold Medal.

Ms Mueller-Preis’ Olympic career medal tally includes one gold and two bronze medals; one at the Games in Berlin 1936 and a second one in London in 1948. Furthermore, she won three World Championship titles (1947, 1949, and 1950), eight World Championship medals and 21 national Championship titles in the period between 1931 and 1957. Twenty- two years after her first participation at an Olympic Games, she reached the final of the best eight at the Games in Melbourne in 1956 – at the age of 44.

She followed her athletic career as a professor at the University of Music and Pictorial Art in Vienna (Wiener Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst) and the world famous Reinhardt-Seminar. During that time she worked with many international talents including Herbert von Karajan.

For the Athens Games in 2004, Ms Mueller-Preis was invited by the IOC to attend the Games for two days. However her Olympic passion caught hold once again and she extended her trip to two weeks at her personal expense so that she could attend as many events as possible. 

When asked about sport and the Salzburg 2014 bid, Ms Mueller-Preis responded: 

“I am hoping very much that we will be awarded the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2014. Then, I would be 102 years old and with some luck and a lot of mercy, I could possibly be the oldest spectator in attendance. I am Austrian myself and which Austrian could say “no” to a Winter Games in his/her own country? We are capable of hosting such a big event. We have shown this ability in Innsbruck already. And I think it is great that we are hosting the EURO in our country as well. In regards to the currently annoying topic of doping I would like to say the following: During my time nobody was taking performance enhancing drugs. Sport was a game, a means of communication, not something to beat the other competitors by taking drugs. With the right attitude to life you will be successful in any case. You can’t just “knock down” somebody like that. “

Rudolf Hoeller, Executive Director Salzburg 2014: “It is wonderful to see such a great athlete like Ellen Mueller-Preis still in such a great shape. She is a true fighter for the Olympic ideal and therefore a wonderful Ambassador for Salzburg 2014. Should Salzburg have the honour to be awarded the Winter Games 2014 on 4 July, we would do all that is in our power to fulfil Ellen Mueller-Preis’ dream of attending the Winter Games in Salzburg 2014 as a spectator.”

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