Roman Hagara

Roman Hagara

Personal information
Born	30 April 1966 (1966-04-30) (age 50) Vienna, Austria
Medal record Representing  Austria Sailing Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 0 World Championships 2 2 2 European Championships 5 2 0 Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Tornado 2004 Athens Tornado World Championships 1987 Kiel Tornado 1999 Vallensbæk Tornado 2000 Sydney Tornado 2001 Richards Bay Tornado 1990 Medemblik Tornado 2006 San Isidro Tornado European Championships 1990 Breitenbrunn Tornado 1997 La Grande-Motte Tornado 2000 Alassio Tornado 2001 Silvaplana Tornado 2006 Travemünde Tornado 2003 Cagliari Tornado 2005 Västervik Tornado

Roman Hagara (born 30 April 1966) is an Austrian sailor who has won the Gold medal in the Tornado class at two consecutive Olympic Games.

Hagara, and his colleague Hans-Peter Steinacher won the Gold medal in the Tornado class at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and successfully defended their title at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which, to date, makes them Austria’s the most successful summer sport athletes as the first professional Austrian sailing team.^[1]

Hagara was the Flagbearer for the Austrian team at the 2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony.^[2] Along with his teammate Steinacher, he has won the Austrian Sports Personality of the Year twice, in 2000 and 2004.

America's Cup & Red Bull Youth America's Cup

Since 2009 he has focused more on the big boat scene with Hans-Peter Steinacher, including competing on an America’s Cup yacht. Hagara was the skipper of Hagara-Steinacher Racing (HS Racing) in the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series.^[3]

Under the flag of the United States for San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, the duo competed in a 2013 America’s Cup World Series event in Naples, Italy. Racing this event gave the team firsthand experience in what has become Hagara and Steinacher’s primary focus, mentoring the next generation of sailors on the next generation of sail boats: hydrofoils.

Extreme Sailing Series

Roman Hagara is currently also the skipper for Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team in the Extreme Sailing Series.^[4] With the series' announcement that foiling catamarans will be part of its future, Hagara and Steinacher have taken on a full crew of athletes who honed their skills in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.

Mentoring Young Talents

As of 2015, Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher mentor young sailors in three series: as sports directors of Red Bull Foiling Generation^[5] and the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, and as leaders of the Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team that competes in the Extreme Sailing Series. Hagara and Steinacher look for the best and most talented sailors in their respective age groups to give them insights and show them a new way of sailing.

Background

Originally trained in windsurfing, Roman Hagara soon competed against his now team mate Hans-Peter Steinacher, until they decided in 1997 to train for the 2000 Olympics together. Before 1997, Roman Hagara worked as crew, then changed to skipper.

In the 2000 Olympics, the team was the very first to work with customized sails. Since then, the team has always focused on being ahead of technological developments, which now shows in their involvement in the foiling technology.^[6]

References

External links

• Roman Hagara at World Sailing
• Homepage of Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher
• Website of the Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team