List of Austrian sportspeople

Despite its relatively small population Austria has produced many great athletes in several sports including Skiing, Formula One, Mountaineering and Tennis. Below is a list of Austrian athletes organized by sport.

Skiing

Throughout history Austria has been the birth place of many great skiers. Austria is 5th in the all time winter Olympics medal count and has won more alpine skiing world cups then any other nation (both individually and nationally). Below is a list of famous skiers from Austria.

-Armin Assinger-Michaela Dorfmeister, Olympic champion

-Stephan Eberharter, Olympic champion

-Andreas Goldberger, ski jumper

-Renate Götschl

-Christl Haas

-Hermann Maier, Olympic champion, Considered one of the greatest skiers of all time.

-Ulrike Maier, Olympic ski champion (1967-1994)

-Patrick Ortlieb, Olympic champion

-Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Olympic champion, Considered one of the greatest skiers of all time.

-Benjamin Raich, Olympic champion

-Karl Schnabl, ski jumper

-Karl Schranz

-Thomas Stangassinger, Olympic champion

-Hubert Strolz, Olympic champion

-Ernst Vettori, ski jumper

-Anita Wachter, Olympic champion

-Felix Gottwald, Olympic champion

-Toni Sailer, Won all three gold medals earning himself the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing, Considered one of the greatest skiers of all time.

Formula One

Austria is a country with a very rich history in motor racing. Austria has produced two great formula one champions in Jochen Rindt and Niki Lauda, plus Gerhard Berger, one of the most enduring stars of his time. There is consistently at least one Austrian driver in formula one and Austrian team Red Bull Racing is currently enjoying success in the sport. Unfortunately several drivers have suffered severe injuries and/or died in the sport. For this reason many say that Austria could have had more success if it were not for their bad luck.

-Gerhard Berger

-Harald Ertl, Died in 1982 due to an aircraft accident

-Patrick Friesacher

-Christian Klien, Currently driving for BMW Sauber (as a test driver)-Niki Lauda, three time Formula one world champion

-Roland Ratzenberger, died in 1994 due to race related accident

-Jochen Rindt, Formula one world champion, died in 1970 due to race related accident

-Karl Wendlinger, currently driving in the FIA GT Championship

-Alexander Wurz, currently driving for Honda (as a test driver)

Mountaineering

Being a mountainous country, it is no surprise that Austria is home to some of the greatest and most recognizable mountaineers of all time. On 5 of all 14 Eight-thousanders Austrians have made the first ascent, more than any other nation can clame. There are also several mountains throughout the world in which Austrians have made the first accent. Below is a partial list of Mountaineers from Austria.

-Hermann Buhl, first ascent of Nanga Parbat (1953), first ascent of Broad Peak (1957)

-Kurt Diemberger, first ascents of Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960)

-Fritz Moravec, first ascent of Gasherbrum II together with Josef Larch and Hans Willenpart

-Marcus Schmuck, first ascent of Broad Peak (1957), initiator and leader of the OEAV Karakoram Expedition

-Herbert Tichy, first ascent of Cho Oyo

-Fritz Wintersteller, first ascent of Broad Peak (1957)

-Karl Blodig, first to climb all alpine mountains above 4000m

-Heinrich Harrer, first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid

-Peter Habeler, first ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen (together with Reinhold Messner)

-Ludwig Purtscheller, first ascent of Kilimanjaro (1889)

Hockey

Austria has had significant success in the sport of hockey. The IIHF currently ranks the men's team 17th and the women's team 20th. Below is a partial list of hockey players from Austria.

-Christoph Brandner, NHL hockey player

-Reinhard Divis, NHL hockey player

-Michael Grabner

-Thomas Vanek, NHL hockey player

Football

Like many European countries football is a populare past time in Austria. Austria has its own professional football league, the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The defending champion is Red Bull Salzburg. The league also includes the famous SK Rapid Wien. Fifa currently ranks Austria's international men's team 77th and women's team 44th. Below is a list of football players from Austria.

-Marvin Holbelt, football player and coach

-Andreas Herzog

-Josef Hickersberger, football player and coach

-Hans Krankl, football player and trainer

-Bozo Kovacevic

-Emanuel Pogatetz

-Toni Polster

-Herbert Prohaska

-Matthias Sindelar, nicknamed "the Mozart of football", Voted the greatest Austrian football player of all time.

Tennis

In recent years Austria's presence on the international tennis scene has grown significantly. The national teams on the davis and fed cup have climbed rapidly and many new stars are rising. Austria's Davis Cup team is currently ranked 16th while their Fed Cup team is doing very well in 7th. Austria has also produced a former world number one and French Open champion in Thomas Muster. Below is a list of Austrian Tennis Players.

-Sybille Bammer-Rainer Eitzinger

-Nikola Hofmanova

-Melanie Klaffner

-Julian Knowle

-Stefan Koubek

-Oliver Marach

-Jurgen Melzer

-Yvonne Meusburger

-Thomas Muster, Former World No. 1, 1995 French Open Champion

-Tamira Paszek

-Alexander Peya

-Barbara Schett

Other Notables

-Kate Allen, triathlete (Olympic champion 2004)

-Mikael Botwinov, cross country skater-Judith Deutsch, champion swimmer

-Toni Fritsch, NFL football player, Super Bowl VI champion

-Andreas Geritzer, sailor

-Stephanie Graf, runner (not related to German tennis player Steffi Graf)

-Roman Hagara, sailor (Olympic champion 2000 & 2004)

-Claudia Heill, judoka

-Emese Hunyady, speed skater (Olympic champion 1994)

-Mirna Jukic, swimmer

-Markus Rogan, swimmer

-Nicole Trimmel, kickboxer

-Werner Schlager, table tennis player (world champion 2003)

-Arnold Schwarzenegger, body builder

-Peter Seisenbacher, judoka (Olympic champion 1984 & 1988)

-Christoph Sieber, surfer (Olympic champion 2000)

-Elisabeth Theurer, horse rider

-Georg Totschnig, cyclist