In the coming weeks, it should be raining medals for Red-White-Red at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. We spoke to Army Sports Center Commander Colonel Christian Krammer about the chances of medals for the army athletes and the diverse tasks of the Army Sports Center.
Colonel, the Army Sports Center is primarily associated with the promotion of competitive sports. How many athletes are currently being supported and coached? We currently support up to 450 competitive athletes in the armed forces, although the number always varies slightly, as support for competitive sports generally begins with basic military service for men and training service for women and ends with disarmament. If their performance is above average, the athletes can also be transferred to an MZ relationship (MZ = temporary military personnel). Who decides whether the performance is “above average”? Once a year, we have a so-called athlete assessment conference in which experts decide on a possible extension for one year at a time. We work closely with Sport Austria and the national sports federations, and athletes can stay with us for a maximum of 15 years. 
What is included in the athlete assessment? Are placings in competitions the only decisive factor or are other factors such as an athlete’s development and potential also important? This is a very multi-faceted assessment, which of course takes into account the results lists from previous years. In coordination with the national sports federations, physiological performance parameters also play a role and, of course, we also look at how performances have developed in relation to international and national competition and what potential the athlete has. It is important to me that – although the focus is of course on performance – we don’t drop anyone if they are injured and are unable to take part in competitions or train. We are involved in top-class sport, where athletes have to push themselves physically to their limits and sometimes even beyond. Of course, injuries can happen. In this case, athletes are given an injured status with us and the chance to fight their way back to the top of the world after recovery. If you look at the success stories from skiing and Nordic winter sports to athletics and disabled sports, you have to come to the conclusion that the world of top-class sport in Austria would be completely different without the Austrian Armed Forces. Or would similar successes still be conceivable? Of course there would still be top-class sport in Austria without us – but certainly not of the same quality as now. If our offer didn’t exist, the possibility of being able to concentrate fully on your sporting career as a professional athlete with all the necessary security from the age of 18 would disappear at a stroke. Without us, many athletes would not have this opportunity. 450 potential medal hopefuls would then only be able to train as amateurs and would find it much more difficult to make it to the top of the world. This would certainly be a massive step backwards for Austrian elite sport. https://militaeraktuell.at/mehr-nachwuchssportler-fuer-das-bundesheer/ However, the police and customs also have similar facilities to the army sports center. That is correct in principle and we also work well together and complement each other. However, we are talking about around 50 athletes in the police force and around 20 athletes in customs, which is far fewer than we have. In addition, the athletes are usually already established there, are often taken on by us and later want to work as police officers or customs officers. We, on the other hand, start with the youngsters and want to gradually introduce them to the world’s top athletes without making it compulsory for them to choose a career as a soldier. Many of the athletes pursue a career as an officer or non-commissioned officer at the same time or after their career, but they can also take other paths and we even support them with vocational training after their career ends. 
Despite the great successes, critics criticize the high number of army athletes and the associated costs. What is your response to this? Of course, promoting competitive sport costs something, but you also have to see the benefits. It is associated with an enormous image transfer. In a recent representative study, people in Austria were asked whether they thought our competitive sports funding model was good, and an overwhelming majority of respondents perceived competitive sports funding to be very beneficial. In addition, we also benefit from the transfer services of top athletes, especially in the defined priority sports of skydiving, military pentathlon, orienteering, rifle shooting, pistol shooting, biathlon skiing and cross-country skiing. These are sports that have a very close connection to the military and where we gain particularly complex and important insights through competitive sport, which we can also make use of for the troops. Can you give an example? For example, the high-performance parachutists train together with our fighter commando soldiers, who have to be able to land with full equipment in small exposed areas. The competitive athletes land on stamps if necessary and can of course pass on their know-how in these training sessions. Another example is shooting, where we gain experience in top-class sport through the athletes and our coaches, which is then incorporated into the shooting regulations and training. As mentioned at the beginning, the Army Sports Center is primarily associated with the promotion of top-class sport. However, the area of responsibility is much larger. That’s right. At the same time, we also deal with sports science issues relating to physical performance in the military environment. The focus here is on motor-constitutional requirement profiles and the optimization of physical performance requirements for military service in the armed forces. We also provide basic, advanced and further training for physical training specialists as well as military sport-specific seminars. We are organized in such a way that one department is dedicated to the promotion of competitive sports and one department to military sports science research as well as the specific training and further education of cadre soldiers. What do you consider to be the most important task? I can’t prioritize anything because the tasks complement each other. Overall, we cover a very broad spectrum and work on research projects for the troops, dealing with issues ranging from the physical performance of soldiers and branches of the armed forces to competitive sport. The Army Sports Center is a unique service that only exists once in the army. Nevertheless, our range of tasks has an impact on the entire army. We define the framework conditions for physical performance in the Armed Forces – both theoretically and practically – and this is definitely a cross-cutting issue. 
You have now mentioned research projects for the troops. What does that include, for example? In this context, for example, we have worked on how fit mountain soldiers or explosive ordnance disposal personnel need to be in order to carry out their work. In such cases, we carry out stress analyses, develop test procedures and supplement these with training models. Another issue we have been working on recently was evaluating our test procedure in the context of basic military fitness. We have learned from the experience of elite sport by changing this test procedure from a general motor test to a military-specific test. In contrast to the previously more running-dominated form of testing in a sports suit, the focus is now on military activities such as lifting, carrying or pulling loads, moving in the field and a fast march with a weapon and luggage – and all of this in a combat suit. Since 2016, there have also been competitive athletes with disabilities in the armed forces. How well has the offer been received and where do you see room for improvement? The offer is still relatively new and we are now gathering our first experiences. In discussions with the athletes, however, it is clear that they can train more effectively as competitive athletes in the armed forces. With social security and improved environmental conditions, we have already created very good framework conditions in terms of inclusion, but of course we are constantly evaluating and optimizing them. How many medals will the military athletes win at the Olympic and Paralympic Games? Summer Games? How many medals would you be satisfied with as commander of the Army Sports Center? In principle, a lot is possible. We can win medals, but if everything doesn’t go 100 percent right on day X, small things can be decisive in not achieving the desired success. In principle, however, I am very confident and I would be satisfied if our top athletes can perform at their best in Tokyo. It remains to be seen whether they will win a medal. But I will definitely be keeping my fingers crossed for them.
