Top athlete of the year awarded by the talent center Upper Austria

LINZ/Upper Austria. School and sports play in Association Talent Center Upper Austria the one-two pass for many years. The sports talents of the BORG Honauerstraße, the HAS Rudigierstraße and the lower school sports talents branch in the Georg von Peuerbach-Gymnasium regularly prove this with their successes. At the annual talent center awards ceremony, the most promising up-and-coming athletes were honored at the Olympic Center in Linz.

Emily Starzer (Judo) was voted “Top Athlete of the Year” and Kai Niederhuber (Badminton) was voted “Top Athlete of the Year”. Patrick Söllinger (ice hockey) was chosen for “Team Athlete of the Year”. The titles “Rookie 2022/23” went to Lukas Edl (swimming) and Valentin Hofer (cycling). Lucie Sageder (swimming), Felix Neumüller (gymnastics) and Marc Hierschläger (cycling) were honored as “top talents of the lower school model”.

“These seven young talents were able to convince with their performances in the past year both on a sporting and on a school level. They can all be expected to have a great career,” congratulated Markus Achleitner (ÖVP), Minister for Economic Affairs and Sport, at the ceremony in the Upper Austria Olympic Center in Linz.

For their achievements, the young top athletes each received a check in the amount of 1,000 euros or 500 euros (rookie of the year) or 250 euros (up-and-coming talent) from Achleitner and Markus Auer, director of the VKB-Bank, long-standing partner of the talent center in Upper Austria , presented.

Promotion and support for 414 talents

The “Talent Center Upper Austria” association based in the Olympic Center Upper Austria guarantees the best possible support and support for Upper Austria. young athletes. 414 talents from 25 sports are currently being supported. The center is one of nine competence centers for young athletes in Austria. The association supports the BORG for competitive sports, the HAS for competitive sports and the Georg von Peuerbach-Gymnasium (lower-level model for competitive sports).

“Promoting young athletes is very important to us. The main pillars of success are the perfect cooperation between teachers and trainers as well as the support in the club and in the family,” emphasized State Councilor Achleitner, who also thanked the directors of the three partner schools, Jürgen Eder (BORG), Wolfgang Rupprecht (HAS) and Herbert Kirschner (Georg von Peuerbach-Gymnasium) thanked.

Rupprecht before retirement

Special thanks go to Wolfgang Rupprecht, who will be retiring at the end of the school year. “The competitive sports branch at HAS Rudigierstrasse has existed since 2008. This 15-year success story in the field of education and sport is closely linked to the name of Wolfgang Rupprecht. Since the company was founded, he has always been enthusiastically involved in the competitive sports classes as a teacher and also as a class teacher and has provided valuable support to a large number of athletes at the beginning of their careers. Among them are well-known names such as professional cyclist Felix Großschartner, Olympic toboggan starter Birgit Platzer and judoka Daniel Allerstorfer,” Achleitner thanked.

The honored sports talents 2022/23 at a glance

“Top Talent of the Year” (Lower School Model):

• Lucie Sageder (12 years old, from Leonding, sport: swimming, club: ASV Linz, 3rd grade at Georg von Peuerbach Gymnasium)
• Felix Neumüller (12 years old, from Neumarkt im Mühlkreis, type of sport: artistic gymnastics, club: Jahn Linz Lustenau, 2nd grade at Georg von Peuerbach Gymnasium)
• Marc Hierschläger (13 years old, from Eidenberg, sport: cycling, club: RC ARBÖ ASKÖ Naturfreunde Auto Eder Walding, 2nd grade Georg von Peuerbach Gymnasium)

„Rookie“:

• Lukas Edl (16 years old, from Wels, sport: swimming, club: Welser TV 1862, 6th class BORG Honauerstraße)
• Valentin Hofer (16 years old, from Maria Schmolln, type of sport: cycling, club: Union Maria Schmolln, 2nd class HAS Rudigierstraße)

Top Athlete of the Year:

• Emily Starzer (17 years old, from Haidershofen, sport: judo, club: ASKÖ Reichraming, 8th class BORG Honauerstraße)
• Kai Niederhuber (19 years old, from Ansfelden, sport: badminton, club: Union Neuhofen/ASKÖ Traun, 4th class HAS Rudigierstraße)

Team Athlete of the Year:

• Patrick Söllinger (18 years old, from Linz, sport: ice hockey, club: Steelwings Linz / Steinbach Black Wings Linz, 9th class BORG Honauerstraße)