As part of the 1st press conference in the run-up to the 51st Hypomeeting Götzis on Thursday, May 7, the focus was not only on the sporting highlights with a large number of top international athletes, but also on the topics of volunteering, sustainability and promoting young talent. The press conference took place at the headquarters of the long-standing junior competition partner, VLV Vorarlberger Landes-Versicherung in Bregenz - in keeping with Kids Athletics Day 2026.
OC President Alexandra Giesinger emphasized the special importance of volunteer work, which has been the foundation of the Hypomeeting for decades. Over 500 helpers invest around 26,000 hours every year to make the Hypomeeting in Götzis possible. At the same time, she also underlined the international importance of the event in terms of sustainability: the Hypomeeting was awarded the Gold Label of the World Athletics sustainability standard for the second time in 2025, putting it on the same level of sustainable athletics events as major international sports cities such as Sydney, Lausanne, Berlin and Silesia.
"As OC President, it fills me with deep pride every year that we continue to organize this major sporting event 100% on a voluntary basis." - Alexandra Giesinger, OC President
Walter Weber, Sports Director of the Hypomeeting, gave an overview of the top-class field of participants at this year's meeting. A total of 124 invitations were issued to heptathletes and decathletes last fall. The entry list now includes 35 female heptathletes and 33 male decathletes. The high-caliber field is also reflected in the fact that six of the top 10 athletes in the world will be competing in the decathlon and seven of the top ten female athletes in the world in the heptathlon.
In addition to the host of the press conference in Bregenz, Director Klaus Himmelreich from Vorarlberger Landes-Versicherung V.a.G., Philipp Hämmerle from the Managing Board of Hypo Vorarlberg Bank AG, the mayor of the market town of Götzis Manfred Böhmwalder, as well as decathlete and world indoor record holder Simon Ehammer (SUI) with his coach Karl Wyler, and Vorarlberg heptathlete Chiara Schuler (AUT) were on hand to answer questions from the media.
The mayor of the market town of Götzis, Manfred Böhmwalder, emphasized the importance of this major sporting event in Götzis: "We are delighted to be able to host the event again - host to the world. It is great to see that the Hypomeeting has once again succeeded in bringing the best athletes to Götzis. No matter where you are in the world, Götzis is a household name - thanks to the Hypomeeting."
At the official "Kids Athletics Day", heptathlete Chiara Schuler emphasized the important role she and other active athletes play as role models for young athletes. She herself is a coach at TS Hörbranz, which is why it is clear to her that children must always focus on having fun in sport, combined with a willingness to show perseverance in training.
"The most important thing for me as a coach is that I can pass on values to them, that setbacks are just as important as successes and that fun comes first." - Chiara Schuler (AUT)
Simon Ehammer was optimistic about the Hypomeeting in Götzis after his sensational indoor season, including a world indoor record at this year's World Indoor Championships in Torun (POL). The indoor season has shown how strong the basis is for the outdoor season, which began for him a few weeks ago in Brescia (ITA). Particularly in the technical area - for example in the throws - he is currently still working intensively on this. Ehammer formulated clear goals: Instead of talking about further records, the focus is on improving in all disciplines compared to the previous year, he said:
"We are now focusing on being better everywhere than last year - then a very good result will definitely come out of it." - Simon Ehammer (SUI)
