Karin Maria Ilona Prokop (born 11 February 1966) is an Austrian

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player, handball coach and politician. She was born in

Tulln an der Donau Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The ...

, a daughter of Austrian athlete Liese Sykora-Prokop and Austrian handball coach

Gunnar Prokop Gunnar Prokop (born 11 July 1940) is a former Austrian handball and track and field, athletics coach. He has previously been both president and coach for the handball club Hypo Niederösterreich. He is widely considered one of the best women's ha ...

Handball Career

Karin Prokop was active between 1977 and 1995. From 1982 she played for the first team of the Austrian top club

Hypo Niederösterreich Hypo Niederösterreich (Hypo NÖ) is an Austrian women's handball club, headquartered in Maria Enzersdorf. They are one of the most successful teams on the EHF Champions League, having won the title eight times. They are also former winners of t ...

. In 1984 she became a part of the Austrian national team. She competed at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, where Austria placed 5th and at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

where Austria finished 6th. She also participated in the

1994 European Women's Handball Championship The 1994 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was the inaugural European Women's Championship. It was held in Germany from 17 to 25 September. It was won by Denmark women's national handball team, Denmark after beating Germany women's nation ...

in Germany. From 1994 to 1996 she worked as a sporting coordinator for the

Austrian Handball Federation The Austrian Handball Federation (') (ÖHB) is the national organization responsible for managing and promoting the practice of handball and beach handball in Austria. Its head office is located in Vienna. ÖHB was ...

, where she was responsible for the

1995 World Women's Handball Championship The 1995 World Women's Handball Championship was the 12th edition of the World Championship. It took place in Austria and Hungary 5–17 December 1995. It was the only to have 20 teams and the first to have multiple hosts. South Korea won its firs ...

in Austria.

Political Career

Like her mother Karin Prokop went into politics after her playing career in

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

.Team Stronach: Von Minister-Tochter bis SPÖ-Rohrspatz
27. September 2012, ''www.krone.at'' She was elected in the Municipality Council of

Maria Enzersdorf Maria Enzersdorf (Central Bavarian: ''Maria Enzasduaf'') is a small city in the district of Mödling (district), Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. There are several castles and ruins in the forests surrounding Maria Enzersdorf, in ...

. In 2012 she joined the party

Team Stronach The Team Stronach for Austria () was a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in Austria founded by and named after Austrian-Canadian businessman Frank Stronach. It was dissolved in August 2017. History The new party was registered ...

."Es folgen noch prominente Namen"
24. August 2012, ''derstandard.at''

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Tulln an der Donau Handball players from Lower Austria Austrian female handball players Olympic handball players for Austria Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Austrian People's Party politicians 21st-century Austrian women politicians Austrian sportsperson-politicians {{Austria-politician-stub