World champion, extraordinary, spectacular:
Innsbruck’s Sporting Year 2018 is full of highlights


Sport, in all its facets, is simply a part of the Alpine-urban lifestyle in Innsbruck. As a venue for major winter events, such as the Four Hills Tournament, the Heart of the Alps has enjoyed a global reputation for decades. In 2018, however, Innsbruck will be proving its sporting expertise as a “summer world champion” too: The Road Cycling World Championships, from 22 until 30 September, and the Climbing World Championships, from 6 until 16 September, will put Innsbruck in the sporting limelight among international media again. And if that wasn’t enough, the world’s elite track and field athletes, downhill bikers, as well as ambitious amateur athletes from various spectacular disciplines, will also be coming to Innsbruck to offer spectators extraordinary sporting highlights in the coming year.

Datum: 15.12.2017
Ort: Region Innsbruck
Ressorts: Events, Freizeit, Sport
Kunde: Innsbruck Tourismus

Four Hills Tournament
3 and 4 January 2018
The “eagles” are back to impress during the Innsbruck stop of the legendary Four Hills Tournament at the very start of the year. Up to 22,000 enthusiastic fans will cheer on the world’s top ski jumpers amidst the breathtaking scenery of the Bergisel Stadium, while millions of television viewers around the world will be watching the spectacle live in front of their TV sets. The thrill is inevitable, with the athletes taking off from the 120-metre-high jump at speeds of over 90 kilometres an hour. Anticipation for the big competition on the 4 January starts growing days before at training and qualification rounds.
www.bergiselspringen.at

27th World Masters in Latin American Dance 
24 March 2018
The “Champions League” of dancing provides plenty of spring feeling in March. At the 27th World Masters, professional dancers from all over the world bring hot rhythms and southern flair to the Alpine capital. As masters of their craft, they impress with exceptional body control, incredible dexterity and dancing perfection. The preliminary rounds of the World Masters at the Innsbruck Congress centre take place from 2 pm; the thrilling battle for the title begins at 7 pm. As part of the World Masters, amateurs and dance school couples from various disciplines will also be there alongside the professionals at the start.
www.worldmasters.at

CONQUER THE ALPS
9 - 11 March 2018
The Conquer the Alps weekend promises an action sports experience of the very special kind. At Axamer Lizum, it’s all about conquering Tyrol’s wintery Alpine nature in a number of sporting contests and amusing challenges. Most of all, it’s about enjoying winter with friends to the fullest. The challenges are designed to be achievable by anyone - whether a top skier or a snowboard novice. Mini golf in the snow or beach volleyball without a beach, it will be interesting to see which disciplines the organisers come up with this year. Between individual competitions, various chill-out spots invite you to relax during the day. Innsbruck’s Old Town also offers plenty of excitement with the brand new “Escape Game”. This crazy, sporty “scavenger hunt” takes you across the historic centre of town as you try to solve the intriguing puzzles and challenges.
www.facebook.com/ConquertheAlps

Tour of The Alps: Finale in Innsbruck
20 April 2018
The professional road cycling stage race, which celebrated its inaugural event last year, will be winding its way for a second run through the three European regions - Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino - between 16 and 20 April. 714.3 kilometres, 13,100 metres elevation gain and 10 mountain classifications between Arco and Innsbruck are on the agenda for the 20 teams, which include a number of world teams. While road cycling professionals used last year’s race as a try-out for the Giro d‘Italia, which begins exactly two weeks after the race this year too, the interest this year is even greater: the last stage, which starts in Rattenberg and ends in Innsbruck, will be tackling part of the route for the Road World Championships in September, thus giving spectators their first chance to assess the great challenges facing the athletes in Autumn.
www.tourofthealps.eu

Innsbruck Alpine Trail Run Festival
27 - 28 April 2018
Innsbruck’s Trail Run Festival leads across country and over mountains at the end of April. The route is particularly attractive and impresses thanks to a sophisticated mix of urban sections and high Alpine trails. Sure to excite all running enthusiasts are five different stages (K15, K25, K42, K65, K85) with the Heart of the Alps Ultra, over 85 kilometres and 3,400 metres elevation gain, providing the greatest challenge. The imposing Sillschlucht gorge, the Alpine pastures around the state capital as well as trails past some of the prettiest villages in the Innsbruck region make the festival a top-class running event that again expects to attract up to 1,500 participants.
www.innsbruck-alpine.at

Golden Roof Challenge
2 June 2018
A unique backdrop, numerous top athletes and over 5,000 spectators: the Golden Roof Challenge is a pole vault and long jump event of international standing. At the largest mobile athletics track in the world, athletes compete in front of Innsbruck’s most famous landmark for the coveted “Golden Roof Shingle”. Furthermore, the competition is part of the “Golden Fly Series”, which brings spectacular athletics competitions to the most beautiful cities in the world. The great significance of the Challenge on the international competition calendar is backed up by the calibre of the participants – double European long jump champion, Darya Klishina, took a clear lead last year, for example. A spectacular show programme makes this sporting event, with free admission, a special experience for the whole family.
www.goldenroofchallenge.at

Crankworx

13 - 17 June 2018
Rotorua, Les Gets, Whistler and Innsbruck: the locations of the Crankworx World Tour could hardly be any more beautiful. Following last year’s spectacular premiere, Innsbruck will be kicking off the European leg of the tour with the best downhill bikers once again converging at Bikepark Innsbruck to fight for the World Series title this summer. At the biggest Gravity Mountain Bike Festival in the world, professional mountain bikers will compete in the Downhill, Slopestyle, Dual Speed & Style, Whip-Off and Pump Track events on the trails in Mutters and Götzens. Tour manager, Darren Kinnaird, is also looking forward to the stop in Innsbruck: “The quality of the routes and trails at the inaugural event exceeded all our expectations. We are already looking forward to the second edition of Crankworx Innsbruck 2018.” Of course, there will be another exciting support programme, such as Downhill workshops for kids, in 2018. With Crankworx, the biking city presents another fine example of its exceptional competence in this field.
www.crankworx.com/festival/innsbruck

XLETIX Challenge Tyrol in Kühtai
21 July 2018
When you know that “XLETIX” are obstacle courses, you can imagine what spectacular challenges await the participants of this leading German race series in the area of Kühtai, Austria’s highest winter sports resort. Team spirit, endurance, strength, courage and skill are required to reach the finish line together as a team. For the 5th time, the challenge leads over 3 distances, across rugged terrain at 2,500 metres in the unique natural landscape near Innsbruck, to the highest obstacle course in the world: a highlight not just for the 5,000 (or more) people expected to take part, but also for all sports-loving spectators.
www.xletix.com

IFSC Climbing World Championships, Innsbruck Tyrol 2018
6 - 16 September 2018
With the Junior World Championships in 2017, the new Innsbruck Climbing Centre enjoyed a hugely successful “baptism of fire”. Now its crunch time: at the beginning of September, over 700 athletes will battle for medals in Lead, Bouldering, Speed and the Olympic Combined format, at the Innsbruck Climbing Centre and in the Olympiahalle, with the support of 250 volunteers, 300 officials and over 30,000 fans. The Paraclimbing competitions are also part of the World Championships. For the first time since 1993, Innsbruck has the opportunity to prove its world-champion climbing capabilities once again in 2018.  For 10 days, the world’s best climbers will turn the capital of the Alps into the international centre of climbing. And for the first time in the history of climbing, the Olympic combined mode will be held this year in Innsbruck in the general class. Even the supporting programme promises to make the hearts of climbing enthusiasts beat faster. There will be numerous events and workshops inviting you to join in too.
www.innsbruck2018.com

UCI Road Cycling World Championships, Innsbruck-Tyrol

22 - 30 September 2018
8 days, 12 races, more than 1,000 athletes and boundless enthusiasm. All of Tyrol is excited about the Road Cycling World Championships at the end of September. 2018 will be Austria’s third time hosting the UCI Road Cycling World Championships, but the first time that the Heart of the Alps will hold this world-class sporting event. Innsbruck and four Tyrolean regions will become the stage for the best road racing cyclists in the world. For the Individual Time Trials, the Team Trials and the Road Races, in the categories: Elite Men & Women, Junior Men & Women as well as the Under-23 Men’s, the peloton will start in Kufstein, Rattenberg, at Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens and Area 47 in Ötztal; the finish line for all events is the state capital, Innsbruck. Already anticipated to be the absolute highlight of the Cycling World Championships in Tyrol is the 265 kilometre-long Elite Men’s Road Race, where riders will have to complete no less than 4,670 vertical metres of climbing. It promises be particularly exciting for spectators, since the result is unlikely to be known until just before the finish line on the “Höttinger Höll” (25% gradient).
www.innsbruck-tirol2018.com

Image archives (material for use free of charge): www.innsbruckphoto.at/extern