Hope lives, but:

ÖOC boss would have “personally expected more”

ÖOC President Karl Stoss

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

In an interim review of the Olympic Games in Paris, ÖOC President Karl Stoss explained that the sporting results from an Austrian perspective were not what he "personally would have expected"! But there are still "some hot irons in the quiver" and it is "not all evening".

Austria has one bronze medal from judo fighter Michaela Polleres and three fifth places from Lubjana Piovesana (judo), Sofia Polcanova (table tennis) and Nadine Ungerank (shooting). Laura Stigger (mountain biking) and Martin Espernberger (swimming) came sixth, with a further seven top 10 places. More than 50 of the 81 athletes have already competed.

There are still competitions to come with Austria in athletics, synchronized swimming, cycling, climbing, golf and kitesurfing, among others, where there is a chance of medals.

"We are still upbeat and optimistic!"
Stoss said that he was sticking to the medal target of five to ten that he had set before the Summer Games. "You can definitely still consider that, I don't want to change my mind. But it's not a wish for Santa Claus, it's the Olympic Games. We are still upbeat and optimistic. I'm convinced we'll celebrate another medal or two." It's roughly half-time. "We can look forward to a very exciting second half."

Some of the athletes who have competed so far have achieved personal bests, and he congratulates them on this. But some of them have shown their personal limits, where they stand in the world league of the best. "You can be unlucky in the draws, you can have health problems. Then it doesn't work out at the moment on day X that you achieve top performance and a medal." 13 top 10 places are not to be sneezed at. "But what counts at the end of the day are medals."

"Paris has set the bar high!"
Stoss is impressed by the sports venues, which he considers to be "the best". "At least I haven't experienced that yet. And London was already great. These are gigantic sports, this backdrop, these structures. Subsequent formats have to make an effort. But the Olympics is not a one-size-fits-all event, everyone has very different concepts. Paris has set the bar high," he said.

The concept of bringing the Games to the people had worked. "This endless enthusiasm that we experience at every venue. Almost everything is sold out. It's an incredibly great atmosphere." Something similar could have happened in Vienna, he noted. "But there are no considerations for Vienna, we would have to do our homework when it comes to sports infrastructure. That would have to be put in the breadbasket of any new government."

"That doesn't take a stone out of my crown!"
The fact that many sports venues in Paris take place in historic buildings or in close proximity to them means that there are many barriers and great security precautions. He often gets out of the car and walks the last stretch. "I don't lose any sleep over it. Then you walk and get a taste of the atmosphere."