20 among the top 10
The world rankings are encouraging for the Olympics
How good is Austria's summer sport? Around four months before the Olympic Games, the encouraging answer is: very good, especially across the board. If you look at the world rankings or world best lists in the disciplines in which medals will be contested in Paris this year, there are 20 Austrians (or duos) in the top 10 in 18 disciplines, with two currently even at the top.
Of course, world rankings should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Sylvia Steiner, for example, is currently number one in the world in the 10 m air pistol event, but has not yet qualified for the Summer Olympics in Paris. The 41-year-old still has two chances to get her ticket: firstly, the qualification tournament in Rio de Janeiro (April 11 to 19) and secondly, via the Olympic rankings. Unfortunately, Steiner is not currently first in the rankings, but she is still the third best of the non-qualifiers - two tickets will be awarded via this ranking.
In contrast to the Salzburg native, Martin Strempfl, who is currently the second Austrian to be ranked number one in the world, is already free of the pressure of qualifying. "It's a cool thing to be number one, even if the ranking doesn't mean as much to us as it does in tennis," he says. He emphasizes that this does not mean he is the top favorite in Paris. "The density here is enormous. The top 20 in the world are all about equally good, any one of them can win a medal." That probably applies to many sports.
The fact that he already has the ticket is definitely a relief in terms of preparation. "Now I have time to break in my new clothes, for example," reveals Strempfl, who finished 13th in Tokyo. This may sound surprising to the layman, but it is one of many important factors in shooting. "The stiff material should help us to stand as still as possible," explains the Styrian. "It has to fit perfectly, almost like a second skin. It's a sensitive story.
Austrians in the top 10 in the world
Track cycling omnium men 8th Tim Wafler
Judo women up to 70 kg 7. Michaela Polleres
Judo men up to 81 kg 9th Shamil Borchashvili
Canoe Kayak Single Men 8th Felix Oschmautz
Climbing combined men 4th Jakob Schubert
Climbing combined women 4th Jessica Pilz
Athletics javelin women 4th Victoria Hudson
Men's discus athletics 7th Lukas Weißhaidinger
Mountain biking women 5th Mona Mitterwallner
Mountain bike women 7. Laura Stigger
Horse riding Show jumping 8th Max Kühner
Shooting 10m air rifle H 1. Martin Strempfl
Shooting 10m air pistol D 1st Sylvia Steiner
Swimming 400 m crawl H 4th Felix Auböck
Swimming 100 m dolphin H 3rd Simon Bucher
Swimming 200 m dolphin H 2nd Martin Espernberger
Sailing 470 Mixed 5th Vadlau/Mähr
Sailing 49er Men 6th Bildstein/Hussl
Sailing 49er Men 8th Prettner/Flachberger
Gymnastics Rings Men 8th Vinzenz Höck
The sport in which the Austrians currently occupy the second-best positions according to paper form is swimming. Here there is no world ranking list based on a points key, but a world best list that is strictly based on the fastest time of a swimmer in that year. Martin Espernberger is currently second over 200 meters dolphin, Simon Bucher third over 100 meters dolphin, Felix Auböck fourth over 400 meters crawl.
Of course, the rankings in the second largest Olympic sport are very relative. Many top swimmers have either not been in action at all this year, or are fine-tuning their form for Paris. Of course, everyone wants to be in top form there, so even the World Championships in Doha in February, where Espernberger and Bucher both won bronze, played a subordinate role.
"A motivation"
This is also confirmed by Swimming Federation Sports Director Walter Bär: "It is very pleasing and a great motivation that our boys are doing so well at the moment. It means that you're good, but it doesn't mean that you'll achieve the same ranking in Paris. But conversely, it doesn't mean that this isn't possible either. Then we would of course be very happy."
The Austrians will probably not have laid all their cards on the table this year either. For example, the time that Martin Espernberger is currently ranked second fastest in the 200 meter dolphin is slower than the best time he swam last year.
While our swimmers will probably not be the top favorites for the medals in Paris, climbing ace Jakob Schubert is still undervalued with his already very good fourth place in the world rankings of the Olympic combined. In fact, the record world champion is currently one of the two absolute top favorites for the games, with perhaps the young Japanese athlete Sorato Anraku also in the running. This is also due to the fact that Schubert has not climbed every World Cup, especially after he already scaled the ticket for Paris at the last World Championships.
It is also pleasing that Austria also has two top 10 aces in athletics, the most prominent Olympic sport. Lukas Weißhaidinger, who has already won bronze in the discus in Tokyo, has a lot going for him, but javelin thrower Victoria Hudson, who is fourth in the rankings, is likely to be an even hotter prospect.
The 27-year-old will have her first showdown with the elite on April 27 at the Diamond League in Suzhou. "This will be an absolute summit meeting, a more than worthy start to the season and the ideal way to determine where we stand," Hudson is already looking forward to it. The invitation also confirms the obvious fact that the World Championship fifth-placed team has arrived at the top of the world.
Austria is particularly well positioned in the women's mountain bike. Both Mona Mitterwallner in fifth place and Laura Stigger in seventh place are in the top 10, with both Tyrolean women consistently competing for top positions in the World Cup. Both are likely to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Paris via the world rankings and could form a dangerous double lead there.
Apart from the athletes listed, Austria also has other promising Olympic starters in other sports in which no official world rankings or world best lists are kept, such as in synchronized swimming with the Alexandri twins or in rowing with Magdalena Lobnig. As I said, Red-White-Red seems to be extremely well positioned for Paris.
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