Sports are widely practiced in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, both in professional and amateur competitions. The most popular sports are

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Winter sports

Due to the mountainous terrain,

is a prominent sport in Austria. Similar sports such as

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

and

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

are also widely popular, and Austrian athletes such as

Annemarie Moser-Pröll Annemarie Moser-Pröll (born 27 March 1953) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. Born in Kleinarl, Salzburg, she was the most successful female alpine ski racer during the 1970s, with an all-time women's record of six overall ...

Hermann Maier Hermann Maier (born 7 December 1972) is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Nicknamed the "Herminator", Maier ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup tit ...

Toni Sailer Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer (17 November 1935 – 24 August 2009) was an Austrian Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer, considered among the best in the sport. At age 20, he won all three gold medals in alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He ...

and

Marcel Hirscher Marcel Hirscher (born 2 March 1989) is an Austrian-Dutch FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007. He competed primarily in slalom and giant slalom, as well as combined ...

are widely regarded as some of the greatest alpine skiers of all time. Austria has been the number one nation in alpine skiing and leading nation in ski jumping in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. It consisted of Downhill (ski competition), ...

and

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup is the world's highest level of ski jumping and the FIS Ski Flying World Cup as the subdivisional part of the competition. It was founded by Torbjørn Yggeseth for the 1979/80 season and organized by the Internationa ...

. At the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 took place from 23 February to 6 March 2011
— accessed 12 Marc ...

, it took all five ski jumping gold medals. As of 2001, about a third of the 230 Olympic medals which had been won by Austrian sportspeople had been awarded in alpine skiing, and another 30 percent had been won in other winter sports, whilst a quarter of all golds at the Alpine Skiing World Championships had been won by Austrians. The

were held in the town of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

in the years of

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. Success at the elite level also helps to promote ski tourism and related industries: ski tourism and equipment manufacturing account for five percent of the country's

gross national product The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total amount of factor incomes earned by the residents of a country. It is equal to gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes received from n ...

, with half of the world's alpine skis being made in Austria. Around 40 percent of the Austrian population takes part in alpine skiing. There are 12 professional ice hockey teams in the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

, which also features one team each team from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

, and

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

are also popular events, with a permanent track located in

Igls Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, which hosted bobsleigh and luge competitions for the

and

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (, ) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 (), were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976. The games were awarded to Inn ...

held in

. The first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 were held in Innsbruck as well.

Association football

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is the most popular sport in Austria, which is governed by the

Austrian Football Association The Austrian Football Association (; ÖFB) is the governing body of football in Austria. It organises the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austria national football team, as well as its female equivalent. It is b ...

. Austria was once among the most successful football playing nations on the European continent, placing fourth at the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...

, third at the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

, and seventh at the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

. However, recently Austria has been much less internationally successful in this discipline; Austria has not qualified for a World Cup since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Austria co-hosted the

2008 UEFA European Football Championship The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

with Switzerland.

Tennis

Notable tennis players include

Thomas Muster Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Muster ...

, winner of the

1995 French Open The 1995 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 29 May until 11 June. It was the 94th staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...

singles tournament;

Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...

, winner of the 2020 US Open men's singles and finalist of the 2018 and 2019 French Open men's singles and 2020 Australian Open men's singles tournaments;

Jürgen Melzer Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...

, world number 11 in the

2010 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2010 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by the International Tennis Federation (IT ...

and winner of the 2010 Wimbledon and 2011 US Open doubles tournaments;

Barbara Schett Barbara Schett Eagle (; born 10 March 1976) is an Austrian former professional tennis player, who reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1999. Between 1993 and 2004 she played in 48 matches for the Austria Fed Cup team, ...

, number 8 in the

1999 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV ...

singles rankings; and

Barbara Paulus Barbara Paulus (born 1 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. She began playing on the WTA Tour in 1986 and retired in 2001. During her career, she won a total of seven WTA tournaments (six singles titles, one double ...

, world number 13 in the

1996 WTA Tour The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis circuit, organized by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The 1996 WTA Tour included the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier I ...

singles rankings.

Motorsport

Motorsport is the third most popular spectator sport in Austria (after skiing and football). The

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix () is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, and –. It returned to the Formula One calendar in , where it has remained since then. It was first held at ...

is a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

race held in 1963, 1964, from 1970 to 1987, from 1997 to 2003 and since 2014. Several Austrian drivers have competed successfully in Formula One.

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

is a three-time champion (1975, 1977 and 1984) and seventh winningest driver with 25.

Jochen Rindt Karl Jochen Rindt (; 18 April 1942 – 5 September 1970) was a racing driver, who competed under the Austrian flag in Formula One from to . Rindt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Lotus, and remains the only driver to ...

was crowned 1970 champion, after being killed in practice for a race; he also won the 1965

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (; born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Berger won 10 Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, ...

ranked third in 1988 and 1994, and has collected 10 wins and 48 podiums. The top two motorsport venues are

Österreichring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later s ...

and

Salzburgring The Salzburgring is a motorsport race track located in Plainfeld, east of Salzburg. Key facts Track Length Bends 15 Straights ...

. The former hosted the Austrian Grand Prix, the

Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997, and then again from 2016 onwards. The event is due to take place at the Red Bull Ring until at least 2025. ...

, and the

1000 km Zeltweg The 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring (originally known as the 500 km Zeltweg) was an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance sports car racing, sports car event held near Spielberg, Styria, Spielberg, Austria. Originally based at the Zeltweg Airf ...

endurance sports car race. The latter has also held the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix, the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

, the

European Formula Two Championship The European Formula Two Championship was a Formula Two motor racing series that was held between 1967–84. The races were held across Europe, and were contested both by drivers aiming to compete in Formula One in the future as well as curr ...

, and the top German series such as the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with produc ...

and the

Super Tourenwagen Cup The Super Tourenwagen Cup, or German Supertouring Championship, was a touring car racing series held between 1994 and 1999 in Germany. The championship was established when BMW and Audi both left the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) in 199 ...

Basketball

The country's prime basketball league is the

Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga The Austrian Basketball Bundesliga (in German: Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga) was the top men's professional basketball league in Austria. Until the 2004–05 season, the league was known as the A-Liga (A-League) and then until the 2008� ...

. Several of its teams have participated in European competitions. Until the late 70s, Austria was one of Europe's main teams as it qualified for the

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

six times. Since then, the team declined despite occasional strong showings at

qualification games. The most prominent Austrian basketball player today is

Jakob Pöltl Jakob Poeltl (sometimes spelled Jakob Pöltl; ; born October 15, 1995) is an Austrian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Utah Utes. In his so ...

, who became the country's first

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player in the 2016–17 season after having been selected by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in the first round of the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

. Austria is an emerging country for

3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (stylized as ''ƐX3'', pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a Variations of basketball, variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one Backboard (basketball), backboard and in a basketball court, half-court setup. This basketba ...

Rugby Union

American Football

The

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is a professional American football league in Austria. The league comprises six teams, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation. It plays by rules based on those of the U.S. National Collegiate Athl ...

(AFL) is the top level of

american football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

in Austria founded in 1984, and considered one of the best leagues in Europe. Teams from Austria have won the

European Football League The European Football League (EFL) established in 1986, was a tournament for the best European American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a ...

championship the

Eurobowl The Eurobowl, first played in 1986, was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each country ...

final many times. The Austrian national American Football team is ranked high in world and European rankings. American football in Austria is one of the more popular team sports for participation and spectators.

DanceSport in Austria

Austria is an active member of the

WDSF The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of dancesport and Para dancesport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Internat ...

and hosts many annual competitions such a
Austrian Open
and world championships. Austrian dance athletes are noticeable in the world. * Florian Gschaider and Manuela Stoeckl were amateur world ten-dance semifinalists in 2003 i
Vancouver
*

Vadim Garbuzov Vadim Garbuzov is a Canadian and Austrian ballroom dancer, showman and choreographer of Ukrainian descent. He was the World Youth Championship finalist in 2005, the winner of the Austrian TV program '' Dancing Stars'' in 2012, 2014 and 2020, and t ...

and

Kathrin Menzinger Kathrin Menzinger (born 24 September 1988 in Vienna) is an Austrian dancer. Menzinger and her partner won five World Championship titles in Showdance Latin and Standard between 2015 and 2017. Biography She started to dance at the age of 3, first ...

are Austrian ballroom dancers and showmen. In 2015 they became world champions in Latin show and world show champions in Standard show. Popularizing

DanceSport Dancesport is competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizat ...

, Austrian television holds annual

Dancing Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series ''Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998). ...

show that enjoys its 9th season as of 2014.

Beach volleyball

Austria featured national teams in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

that competed at the

2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup The 2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup were a beach volleyball double-gender event. Teams representing European countries were split into groups of four, where an elimination bracket determined the two teams to advance to the next stag ...

in both the women's and the men's sections.

References

External links

"Austrian Teqball Federation launch"
FITEQ (September 25, 2019) {{Sport in Europe