"Schloßberg-Challenge" and "Active Friday": This is how all of Graz will be moved next year!

The program for the sports year is taking shape. Around 180 sporting events from Graz clubs have been funded so far. A special “Schloßberg Challenge” invites everyone in Graz to take part, as does “Active Friday”, which will take place in public spaces every Friday from March to December.

mayor Siegfried Rush and Sports Councilor Kurt Hohensinner symbolically pressed the button - the homepage for the sporting year 2021 has been online since today: Up www.letsgograz.at all previous events that should make the next year so sporty and exciting are published. Around 180 events from almost 150 clubs have already been approved, and a few more will be added over the next few months. So there are around 200 projects that will get things moving in 2021. The ten monthly focal points with the corresponding sports act as a guide through the year. “We are enthusiastic about the variety of the program. From March 1st, sport will be the focus of this city. I call on all Graz residents to participate and be there. There is sure to be something for everyone, ”explains Nagl.

Due to the current Corona crisis, the mayor gives the sporting year an extremely high priority: “In the last few weeks we have all noticed how much we miss sport - both actively and passively. We miss the joint table football with friends, the weekly tennis match, but also a visit to the football stadium or the sports halls. It is all the more our big goal to offer sport an unprecedented stage next year. "

City Councilor Hohensinner adds: “With the attractive program and the numerous highlights, we will get the people of Graz moving and encourage them to participate. We already set ourselves a clear goal in our 2030 Sports Strategy: We want to increase the number of active athletes in this city by 20 percent. The sporting year 2021 should be the initial spark for this. In the past few years Graz has made a name for itself as a sports city, now we are making Graz the sportiest city in Austria! "

Many hands-on activities are intended to motivate the people of Graz to exercise during the sports year. Hohensinner presents the “Schloßberg Challenge” as a year-round incentive: From March 1st to the end of the year as many people as possible should be motivated to climb the Schloßberg on foot. At Schloßbergplatz you log into a system, then walk or run up the steps (or over the sidewalk on the other side of the mountain) to the clock tower - there you will receive your personal, digital photo of the challenge as a reward . "Anyone can take part, of course also people with poor mobility or people in wheelchairs, because the way from the Schloßberg lift to the clock tower is just as important," says Hohensinner. At the end of the sports year, around 300.000 participants should have walked / run on the Schloßberg - that is, every Graz citizen at least once.

program coordinator Markus Pichler and his team have sat for many hours in the past few weeks to sift through all the projects submitted. “It was primarily about deciding which ones are worthy of funding and which are not,” explains Pichler, who at the same time emphasizes: “The commitment of the Graz clubs is great. There are so many creative ideas involved, we look forward to the start of the sporting year on March 1st - even if there is still a lot to do for all of us. ”As soon as the clubs have announced the exact dates for their events, the Homepage, a clear appointment calendar is created - the user can then see at a glance whether it is an event to take part in or to watch.

Sports and exercise fans should certainly note the so-called "Active Friday" from March onwards. Every Friday afternoon there will be sports activities to participate in in public places in Graz, tailored to the respective monthly focus. “An orienteering run through Graz, stand-up paddling on the Mur or weightlifting on the main square - there are many ways to participate. With Active Friday, we want to draw attention to the extensive range of sports on offer in this city and thus attract new sports fans, ”says Pichler.

An extraordinary idea is implemented in the summer months. Graz is looking for the “Empress” in table tennis. The "biggest tournament the city has seen so far" is not about the number of wins, but about the number of games. The person who has played the most games against different opponents (wins or losses does not matter) is the "table tennis emperor". “The tournament runs in July and August. You can play anywhere: at home in your own garden, on the district sports fields, in swimming pools - wherever there is a table tennis table and you can play a match, ”explains Pichler. Interested parties can register via the homepage, encounters and results are also managed on the homepage. At the end of the day there is an attractive price for the “table tennis emperor”.

Highlights for the audience

In addition to the numerous hands-on activities, there will of course also be numerous events to watch throughout the year. One of the first big highlights will be the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator WM be on May 2nd. The spectacular mountain bikers have already been to Graz twice, after two World Cups (2018 and 2019) they will determine their world champions in May. It continues with the first Ironman competition in Styria, the Ironman 70.3 on May 23. It will be a lighthouse project 3 × 3 basketball Olympic qualification tournament from May 26th to 30th. 20 nations are fighting for a total of six tickets for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the summer.

The first week of June will go down in the history of Austrian sport: 28 domestic sports associations hold their state championships as part of the Sport Austria Finals in Graz. The facts alone are impressive: 14 locations, over 300 competitions and up to 3.500 athletes!

But that's not all: That Horst Mandl Memorial Austrian Top Meeting brings the best athletes to Graz in July. The will follow in August Racketlon World Championship and the Foot Volleyball World Challenge. In August there is also a big premiere: the 1st Special Olympics TanzSport World Championship. Around 100 athletes with intellectual disabilities and their unified partners from 15 nations will choose their world champions in four categories in Graz.

At the end of the year, the State figure skating championships, World Cup of Aesthetic group gymnastics as well as the National group rhythmic gymnastics championship. The latter also becomes a gymnast Julia Meder, who is part of the “Active City Graz” association, will be there. Their message is clear: “The sporting year 2021 can be a win-win-win-win situation - for athletes, clubs, the population and ultimately also for the city of Graz. I hope that many people will be motivated and actively involved in the next year. Let's Go Graz! "