The 17-year-old Louis Obersteiner from Vienna-Donaustadt celebrates his double victory. / Image: (c) Stadtadler
“It was awesome,” says Louis Obersteiner from the Wiener Stadtadler about his victories at the Austria Cup, the highest national tournament series for young Austrian ski jumpers. “I knew that my jumps were of a high level. But these results made me honest said even surprised. ” At the very first Austria Cup summer competition, Obersteiner brought out a lead of almost nine meters over the runner-up. With jumps on 93.0 and 95.5 meters, the first place could not be taken from him. On the second day of the competition he increased his width again and landed at 97.5 and 95.5 meters. This was the double victory for the only Viennese in this age group in the towel.
“We are very pleased that Louis' hard work over the past few years has paid off in such a great result,” says Bernhard Wadsak, the club's sporting director. “He is not only a shining example that a Viennese person is also at the forefront of the ÖSV eagles, but also a great role model for the many girls and boys from Vienna and Lower Austria who train with us city eagles every week.”
The longest jumps
The somewhat younger Stadtadler also performed impressively: Sara Pokorny (13) from Vienna-Meidling and Fabian Plank (13) from Vienna-Wieden showed the longest jumps of all Austrian participants at the FIS Youth Cup in Hinterzarten in the German Black Forest. For 15 years, the FIS Youth Cup has been offering young European ski jumpers a first international comparison opportunity, when each nation nominates its best athletes for the tournament.
Pokorny even drove home from the Black Forest with a podium. In the team competition she achieved widths of 72.0 and 70.5 meters and together with Julia Schmidt from SC Erzbergland (64.5 and 59.5 meters) and Sybille Reinprecht from SC Schwarzenberg (54.5 and 54 meters) a third team Place. She was also the best Austrian in the field in the individual competition the day before. With her two jumps of 68 meters each, she reached fourth place in the individual competition.
The city eagle in the red-white-red line-up was also the only Austrian to crack the 70-meter mark: Fabian Plank (13) from Vienna-Wieden jumped 71.0 and 65.5 meters in the team competition. Together with Jonas Gruber from SC Bischofshofen (65.0 and 64.0 meters), Niki Humml from the Kitzbüheler Skiclub (66.5 and 63.5 meters) and Julian Auinger from UVB Hinzenbach (64.0 and 54.0 meters) Austria's team was sixth. The Viennese were also the Austrians with the longest jumps in the individual: With 67.5 and 66.5 meters, he took 18th place in the field consisting of the best young athletes from the eight nations of Germany, Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and Hungary and Austria.
No own jump
The successes of the Stadtadler are also extraordinary because they are the only ski jumping club in Austria that does not have its own training hill. For years the club has been fighting for a junior hill in summer operation on mats to enable the many children who want to ski jumping in Vienna and Lower Austria to achieve their dream.
The junior team is currently limited to a good 30 girls and boys because the club and boys travel to the nearest ski jump in Mürzzuschlag in Styria every weekend. Nevertheless, with the reigning Austrian school master, the reigning Austrian school team champions and two reigning overall winners of the Four Hills Tournament, they are one of the great talent factories in red-white-red ski jumping youngsters.
The Stadtadler has a total of more than 140 members and is one of the largest ski jumping clubs in Austria.
