Hämmerle and Rädler reach Austria’s sports awards shortlist

Snowboarder Alessandro Hämmerle and alpine skier Ariane Rädler are among the finalists for Austria’s 2026 Sports Personality awards, ORF Vorarlberg reported on Thursday. Hämmerle is shortlisted for Sportsman of the Year, while Rädler and teammate Katharina Huber are contenders for Team of the Year.

The three finalists in each category were announced ahead of the 78th annual awards. Winners will receive the “Niki” trophy at the Sporthilfe Gala in Vienna on October 15. ORF 1 and ORF ON will broadcast the event live from 6.45pm.

Hämmerle, a snowboarder from the Montafon, is seeking the award alongside cyclist Felix Gall and Nordic combined athlete Johannes Lamparter. Hämmerle won Olympic gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on February 12, defending the title he claimed in 2022. He became the first athlete from Vorarlberg to successfully defend an Olympic title.

Gall finished second at this year’s Giro d’Italia and third at the Vuelta a España. Lamparter won three Olympic medals and the overall World Cup.

Rädler and Huber are nominated after winning Olympic gold in the team combined event. Rädler, a speed skier from the village of Möggers, has since been made an honorary citizen there. The local ski slope where she first learned to ski has also been named after her.

The other Team of the Year finalists are football champions and cup winners LASK, and ski jumpers Stephan Embacher and Jan Hörl, who won the Olympic debut of the super team event.

There is no athlete from Vorarlberg among the three finalists for Sportswoman of the Year. Skeleton Olympic champion Janine Flock is nominated alongside alpine skiing World Cup giant slalom winner Julia Scheib and mountain bike world champion Valentina Höll.

The full shortlist also includes the following nominees: in the women’s category, Flock, Höll and Scheib; in the men’s category, Gall, Hämmerle and Lamparter; and in the team category, LASK, Rädler and Huber, and Embacher and Hörl.

For athletes with disabilities, the nominees are Veronika Aigner, Jasmin Plank and Elina Stary in the women’s category, and Johannes Aigner, Thomas Frühwirth and Franz-Josef Lässer in the men’s category. The Special Olympics nominees are swimmers Christina Krenn and Bianca Maier, and equestrian athlete Kim Törl among women; and table tennis player Karlo Divic, climber Silvio Gorsche and swimmer Georg Wolf among men.

Fans can vote for the Rising Star award from a shortlist of ski jumper Stephan Embacher, swimmer Luka Mladenovic and freestyle skier Matej Svancer. The Coach of the Year nominees are luge coach Christian Eigentler, last year’s winner Oliver Glasner, who coaches Nottingham Forest, bobsleigh and skeleton coach Michael Grünberger, and LASK coach Dietmar Kühbauer.

The honorary Niki, known as the Special Award, will go to ORF expert Herbert Prohaska for his contribution to Austrian sport beyond individual achievements.