Salzburg (pps) After gold now bronze: Austria’s Olympic winners in doubles Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, have come out third in this year’s Austrian Athletes of the Year elections. In the category teams, the two brothers from Tyrol, Austria, only had to admit defeat to the nordic combined and ski-jumping teams.

After winning gold in Turin, the nordic combined team with its members Christoph Bieler, Felix Gottwald, Michael Gruber and Mario Stecher won in a neck-and-neck race for the fourth time after 1991, 2002 and 2003 ahead of the ski jumpers Martin Koch, Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern and Andreas Widhölzl, also Olympic champions in Turin.

In the women’s category, two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister (downhill and Super G) won the election for the second time after 2003. The men’s category was won by the two-time gold medalist Benjamin Raich (giant slalom and slalom).

In the presence of about 1,200 guests, the winners were honored on the occasion of the tenth gala show "Night of Sports" held in the Salzburg-Arena on Wednesday, October 18.