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 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney, and successfully defended their title at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, which, to date, makes them Austria's the most successful summer sport athletes as the first professional Austrian sailing team. Hagara was the Flagbearer for the Austrian team at the

2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 starting at 20:45 EEST (UTC+3) at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the forma ...

. Along with his teammate Steinacher, he has won the

Austrian Sports Personality of the Year The Austrian Sports Personality of the Year is chosen annually since 1949. Recordholders are Annemarie Moser-Pröll (seven awards) and Marcel Hirscher (six awards). In 1978 and 1979 the Austria national football team was named Austrian Sports Te ...

twice, in 2000 and 2004.

Career

Born in Vienna, Hagara represents the Yachtclub Zell am See. Originally trained in windsurfing, Roman Hagara soon competed against his now teammate 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 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, 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.

America's Cup and 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. 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 The America's Cup World Series are match races and fleet regattas used as heats for the 2013 America's Cup and the 2017 America's Cup. The Yachts AC45 and AC45F The World Series uses AC45 catamarans, a one-design wingsail catamaran designed spec ...

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:

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

Extreme Sailing Series

Roman Hagara was also the skipper for Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team in the Extreme Sailing Series. 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 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.

Personal life

His brother

Andreas Hagara Andreas Hagara (born 19 May 1964) is an Austrian yacht racer who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Summer Olympics. His brother also sailed, Roman Hagara Roman Hagara (born 30 April 1966) is an Austrian sailor who has wo ...

also sailed.https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/62246

References

External links

* * *
Homepage of Roman Hagara and Hans-Peter Steinacher

Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagara, Roman 1966 births Living people Austrian male sailors (sport) Olympic gold medalists for Austria Olympic sailors for Austria Sailors at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Tornado Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Tornado Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Tornado Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Tornado Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Extreme Sailing Series sailors Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Oracle Racing sailors Tornado class world champions World champions in sailing for Austria