Austria excited to celebrate the first World Ice Skating Day
Austria is one of the many countries who would be participating in the first World Ice Skating Day (WISD) on December 4, 2022.
Ice-skating is a growing sport in Austria with major participants coming from Austria in all disciplines at the international level. Austria was also home to its first Winter Youth Olympics that was held in Innsbruck not too long ago in 2012. Austria also hosts major ISU competitions every year and is a strong skating nation.
Vienna has a large history of medal winning skaters – the last Austrian skater to win an Olympic medal was Beatrix Schuba (Gold in Sapporo 1972). Vienna is now home to a lot of good novice-level skaters and a Synchro-Team ‘Vienna Colibris’.
© Skate Austria & Theresa Marka
Salzburg is the home of Severin Kiefer, who until 2022 was skating competitively with his partner Miriam Ziegler, and now is working as a coach with new pairs team- Austrian national medalists Sophia Schaller and Livio Mayr who train in Salzburg, which is also the home of Sweet Mozart, the first Austrian Synchro-Team, who have been at multiple World Championships.
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Innsbruck is the training base of Austrian Champion Maurizio Zandron who finished 17th at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships in Montpellier, France conducted recently. The town also hosted the 2022 World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships.
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Skate Austria celebrated it’s 125 anniversary this year and is proud to be one of the oldest members of the ISU. Austria is still one of the top countries with the most medals at Worlds and Olympic Games, because of its rich history of renowned and competitive skaters. Skaters such Karl Schäfer, Eduard Engelmann, Beatrix Schuba or Claudia Kristoficz Binder served as inspiration for later figure skaters, the ‘Wiener Eisrevue’ was later transferred into ‘Holiday on Ice’ and is now one of the biggest shows in the world!
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For the World Ice Skating Day 2022, Skate Austria has some exciting programs on December 4, 2022, in Austria. ‘We are planning to conduct several programs in Austria, which shall include- Free ice-skating lessons and little shows on WISD, we will also run a social media campaign. Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck are definitely participating and we at Skate Austria shall also motivate all the other clubs in Austria to do something in their respective city - little shows, free learn to skate classes, etc.’ states Ms. Theresa Katzlinger (Event Coordinator at Skate Austria).
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‘It is a fantastic feeling to celebrate and support the sport that I have grown up with and encourage the next generation of skaters in our country’ chips in Theresa Marka, ex-Synchronized skater from Austria and social media strategist who along with Skate Austria is conducting a Synchronized Skating show followed by a ‘Learn to Skate’ initiation for beginners to have free skating session with coaches and athletes in Salzburg.
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The World Ice Skating Day is one day dedicated to Ice-Skating all over the world. The International Skating Union (ISU) announced the festival to celebrate the sport, with plans for it to be held annually on the first Sunday of every December. The event will see ice skaters - professionals, amateurs, beginners, and newcomers - reunite to break social, economic and cultural boundaries.
Focus on greater inclusion, youth involvement and future development of all ice-skating disciplines are planned during WISD.
Another aim of the event is to make the sport more accessible in a fun and safe environment for skaters of all levels and experience, by involving their families.
Check out what's happening at the rink: https://www.worldiceskatingday.com/event-locator/austria-multiple