New winner announced

Adler Kraft in the top three of the athletes’ poll

Stefan Kraft could become Austria's Sportsman of the Year this year.

(Bild: APA/AFP/NTB/Geir Olsen)

There will be a new winner in both the women's and men's categories in the 2024 athletes' poll this year. Super eagle Stefan Kraft joins Olympic champion Valentin Bontus and skier Manuel Feller in the top three.

The election of the Austrian Sportsmen and Sportswomen of the Year 2024 brings new winners. In the top three announced on Wednesday, only athletes who have not yet won the award appear in the men's and women's categories. The decision will be made between Victoria Hudson (athletics), Cornelia Hütter (alpine skiing) and Jessica Pilz (climbing) and Valentin Bontus (kitesurfing), Manuel Feller (alpine skiing) and Stefan Kraft (ski jumping).

In the team ranking, the sailors Lara Vadlau/Lukas Mähr and the soccer teams of Sturm Graz and the ÖFB national team are in the "final". The Austrian sports journalists' association Sports Media Austria (SMA) conducts the election of the Sportsmen and Sportswomen of the Year among its members. The voting has already been completed and the top three in each of the various categories were published on Wednesday. The winners will be announced at the Lotterien Sporthilfe Gala in the Wiener Stadthalle on October 3 (8:15 pm/live ORF 1) and awarded the NIKI trophy named after Niki Lauda.

In the women's category, the most votes went to European javelin champion Hudson, the overall downhill World Cup winner Hütter and Pilz, who won the bronze medal at the Olympics in Paris. Hudson would be the sixth athlete to be honored with the coveted NIKI trophy after Liese Prokop (1969), Ilona Gusenbauer (1971), Theresia Kiesl (1996), Stephanie Graf (2000 and 2001) and Ivona Dadic (2020). Hütter would win the award for the first time since Eva-Maria Brem in 2016 in the alpine skiing camp, while Pilz would be the first female climber to win Sportswoman of the Year.

Olympic champion Bontus could ensure a premiere for his sport in the men's category. Two ÖSV athletes are also in with a chance. Feller has won the Slalom World Cup and would be the 32nd success for an alpine skier. Kraft has won the overall World Cup and gold at the Ski Flying World Championships and would be the first ski jumper to do so since Thomas Morgenstern 13 years ago.

In the team competition, the Olympic champions and footballers are battling it out for first place. Vadlau/Mähr won Olympic gold in the 470 class before Marseille, giving Vadlau the chance to win her second award. She won with Jolanta Ogar in 2014. Also in the running are soccer champions and cup winners Sturm Graz, who broke the dominance of Red Bull Salzburg, as well as the national team, who sparked euphoria by winning their group and reaching the round of 16 at the European Championships in Germany.

The winners are announced and honored at the gala, the most important source of income for Austrian sports aid. Among the 1,500 guests in the Wiener Stadthalle will once again be the who's who of Austrian sport. Tennis pro Dominic Thiem will receive a special honor. The former US Open winner, who ends his career in October, will receive the Special Award for his outstanding career.