Athlete of the Year 2026: These are the winners

Athlete of the Year 2026: These are the winners The article is continuously updated 1,500 guests came to the Vienna City Hall on Thursday to celebrate Austria's biggest sports-related gala. The Niki trophies for the athletes of the year were awarded again as part of the Sports Aid gala. 296 members of the Sportjournalistenvereinigung Sport Media Austria (SMA) cast their votes. After the best three in the categories were announced the previous week, there were no major surprises in the final results. The Team of the Year is LASK The gala was led by ORF commentators Kristina Toth and Lukas Schweighofer. The team of the year was awarded the first prize. With 98 rankings in first place, LASK won the choice very clearly. The Linz, Cup winners, champions, and Champions League team were for the first time named the team of the year. Stephan Embacher and Jan Hörl, as well as the ski-alpine duo Ariane Rädler and Katharina Huber, each had exactly 549 points. Because the ski jumpers had more first-place rankings on the ballots, they were counted as second. Athlete of the Year with a Disability It continued on a personal note. Veronika and Johannes Aigner recently announced a year's break from the Paraski World Cup. However, they deserved the award. The four-time Paralympic champion Veronika Aigner won her fourth title with 222 first-place rankings. Her brother Johannes, three-time Paralympic champion, won with 171 first-place rankings and secured his second title after 2022. Trainer of the Year LASK already won as a team, and the main responsible person was a man: coach Dietmar Kühbauer, who had taken over the penultimate position in the Bundesliga for the Linzer by a little over a year and made LASK the best club football team in the country. He succeeded in the choice against speed coach Christian Eigentler, last year's winner Oliver Glasner, and Bob/Skeleton coach Michael Grünberger. "It is an incredible day for me and my team. This year there are a few stumbling blocks, but we have already jumped over completely different stones," said Kühbauer when asked about the 3:6 against Liverpool on Wednesday. Special Olympics Athletes of the Year For the women, swimmer Bianca Maier was pleased with the Niki, while for the men, Maiers counterpart Silvio Gorsche prevailed. The Sport Moment of the Year Another LASK connection. This time, however, only Sasa Kalajdzic was responsible for the ÖFB jersey. Who can't remember when the forward scored a header in the 3:3 match against Algeria shortly after his substitution and thus allowed Austria to reach the knockout phase? ORF commentator Daniel Warmuth, who caused the TV moment of the year with "Are you stupid" after the equalizer, handed the Niki to Kaladzic. Rising Stars of the Year In this poll, the sports public voted, including from kurier.at/sport. The result was clear: ski jumper Stephan Embacher won with 81.60 percent of the votes ahead of Luka Mladenovic (13.69 percent) and freestyle skier Matěj Švancer (4.70 percent). Special Award Herbert Prohaska was awarded by Sports Aid, Sports Media Austria, and ORF for his life's work and his decades of service to domestic sports. For decades, Prohaska shaped football as a player, coach, and now as a TV expert. Now, standing ovations were given for the first time in the City Hall. "Schneckerl" Prohaska came with his family onto the stage and was visibly moved. Sportswoman of the Year Those who know the scene already expected it: Olympic gold was decisive: Skeleton Olympic champion Janine Flock prevailed against RTL World Cup winner Julia Scheib. Third place went to mountain bike world champion and overall world cup winner Valentina Höll. In the vote, Flock was placed in first by 159 of the 296 journalists.