Lower Austrian beach volleyball pair win Youth Olympic gold

Paul Hohenauer and Martin Poinstingl won beach volleyball gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, giving Austria its third medal and Lower Austria its first, ORF reported.

Hohenauer, 16, from Ziersdorf in Hollabrunn district, and Poinstingl, 17, from Sallingstadt in Zwettl district, had won the under-18 European title together just weeks earlier. They reached the final after losing only one set in the tournament.

In the final, the pair took the first set before Germany, the reigning under-18 world champions, levelled the match. Hohenauer and Poinstingl held their nerve in the deciding set, winning 15-12.

The gold is Austria’s first Olympic medal in volleyball. The country’s other medals in Dakar are silver in coastal rowing for Alena Lux and Lukas Schönbacher, and bronze in judo for Selina Wögerer.