With the global leader in refractories, the Austrian Sports Aid Foundation (Österreichische Sporthilfe) now has a new reliable partner at its side: “I am proud that Austria has top athletes in many different disciplines,” says Stefan Rathausky, Senior Vice President at RHI Magnesita. “In order to prepare the sports talents for a career after their career, we support the educational program of the Austrian Sports Aid Foundation.”
Harald Bauer, Managing Director of the Austrian Sports Aid Foundation, is pleased about the new cooperation: “RHI Magnesita is another strong and internationally successful partner for our organization. We need the help of such strong partners from business – only then can we help our athletes achieve great success internationally. I am particularly delighted that the initiator of this cooperation, Stefan Rathausky, now supports a new generation of talents after his own career in sports, thus sending out an important signal in terms of solidarity in sports.”
Rathausky, who was responsible for the development of RHI Magnesita’s sustainability strategy, initiated the cooperation. Having been a national champion in fencing multiple times, Rathausky knows what it takes: “Performance orientation and discipline are equally important as team spirit and respect. And all of these values also count in business.” RHI Magnesita supports the Sports Aid Foundation’s principle of life-long learning not only ideally but also financially. “It is important to us to take on social responsibility,” Rathausky explains the reasons for the partnership.
Specifically, RHI Magnesita’s support will enable four top athletes to build an economic basis for themselves after their successful career in sports. The athletes will be supported by RHI Magnesita when they pursue a degree at the University of Applied Sciences in Eisenstadt while working at the same time. This school specifically targets professional athletes. The program helps the athletes to successfully contribute their qualities such as commitment to performance and further development also outside the sports venue. The four scholarship recipients are rowing world champion Magdalena Lobnig, multiple snowboard world champion Benjamin Karl, Paralympics bronze medal winner Andreas Onea and snowboard overall world cup winner and double world champion Andreas Promegger.
“RHI Magnesita wishes these athletes a lot of success for their studies,” says Rathausky. He is convinced: “With the necessary competitive spirit, completing the course won’t be difficult. And these four definitely have competitive spirit.”