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Last weekend saw the sixth “Austrian Day of Sport” take place at the Heldenplatz in Vienna. Over 300,000 visitors enjoyed both the glorious weather and this well-organized event, which once again gave all of Austria’s sports federations the opportunity to showcase their sport. The Austrian Chancellor, Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel, was in attendance, as well as sports stars from all disciplines. Salzburg’s bid for the Winter Olympics in 2014 was also represented, along with the Austrian Olympic Committee and the Austrian Paralympic Committee.
The Day of Sport, organized by the Sports department of the Federal Chancellery, has been a great success story. In 2005, it was hard to imagine improving on that year’s figure of 250,000 visitors, but this weekend, 300,000 Austrians came to the Hofburg to experience all aspects of Austrian sport and to see stars like Felix Gottwald, Hermann Maier, Benni Raich and Alexandra Meisnitzer in the flesh. Encouraging an interest in sport was the basic idea behind the “Day of Sport” at its inception seven years ago and every year demonstrates that this approach is working. Austrians have a greater interest in sport now than ever before. Salzburg’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics was represented on two fronts - in the tents of both the Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) and the Austrian Paralympic Committee (ÖPC). The aim was to introduce the successful “Ich bin dafür...” (“I’m backing it…”) campaign for the bid in the capital and to greet the many guests, including virtually all of the sports stars present. Chancellor Schüssel, who is also Austria’s Sports Minister, was there to enjoy this wonderful day along with the hundreds of thousands of sports fans. Heinz Jungwirth, Secretary General of the Austrian Olympic Committee commented, “Every year I look forward to this weekend in September. The passion that Austrians have for sport is incredible – no matter what the sport, all the stands are full. This is the ideal platform for introducing young people to the joys of sport. And there is also the sense that everyone is behind Salzburg’s bid for the Winter Olympics in 2014. There was a great deal of interest in the bid, both in our tent and in the Austrian Paralympic Committee’s tent. When you also consider that the cycling World Championship took place in Salzburg this weekend, that means there was a total of over 500,000 people present at just two sporting events. Quite impressive for a small country like Austria.” |
