Presse / 2008 / Georg Hackl Superstar: Gold and Silver for "Wokl

Presse / 2008 / Georg Hackl Superstar: Gold and Silver for "Wokl Schorsch" at the "TV total Wok World Championship 2008" / 21.5 percent market share among 14- to 49-year-olds

Georg Hackl defends his World Champion title in the one-man Wok and secures silver in the four- man discipline / no medals for Stefan Raab in Altenberg / Wok World Championship is the most- watched show of the evening among young viewers

Georg Hackl remains the “gold standard” in all matters concerning Wok sport. After victories in 2004, 2005 and 2007, he secured his fourth Wok Track Gold in 2008, rejoicing “Wok racing is such a cool invention. I would like to thank the President of the World Wok Union, Stefan Raab, for this.” However, the initiator of the Wok racing only made it into an ungrateful fourth place. Stefan Raab: “Hackl Schorsch’s victory clearly shows that Wok racing is no longer merely a fun sport, it is the professionals who ultimately win. We are taking this sport seriously and hope to make it an Olympic discipline at the latest by 2022.” Even without the backing of the Olympic Games, Wok racing is an absolute smash with audiences: 21.5 percent of the advertising-relevant target group tuned in to watch the “TV total Wok World Championship” on ProSieben. Among 14- to 29-year- olds, the spectacular extravaganza was the evening’s most successful show with 27.6 percent (time period: 8:15 p.m. to 00:50 a.m. / RTL: 26.5%). Up to 4.2 million watched overall.

Once again, “Wokl Schorsch” has reason to celebrate in the four-man Wok. His “World Champion Wok” – with Sven Hannawald, Christina Surer and audience candidate Andreas – was awarded Silver. Crowned Team World Champions were professional sportspeople Christoph Langen, Susi Erdmann, Silke Kraushaar and Felix Loch, the youngest Wok World Champion of all time at the tender age of 18.

The track in Altenberg, considered one of the most difficult in the world, also demanded its sacrifices: during the trial run, pop star LaFee bangs her head on the ice and drops out of the race due to suspected cranio-cerebral injury. Joey Kelly lines up at the start with a bruised rib. The track final victim is a real heavy-weight: Reiner “Calli” Calmund pays off his gambling debts: Half way down the track, he managed to separate from his Wok and come to a grinding halt on the ice. The heavy weight took it all with humor: “I was not hurt, thanks to my well-padded elephant leggings. I would have loved to have made it all the way down, but centrifugal forces simply proved to be too great.”

The one-man Wok World Championship New rules were introduced to ensure equal opportunities for all racers: wok and pilot together could not exceed 130 kilos and adaptations were restricted. However, “Wokl Schorsch” was not able to completely turn his back on the fine art of tuning. To ensure his stir-fry pan stuck more closely to the track, he slightly flattened the front of his “machine”. A decision that was crowned with success: a fabulous first run was enough to secure Georg Hackl his fourth World with success: a fabulous first run was enough to secure Georg Hackl his fourth World Championship title. With 81 km/h, he had the fastest speed of the evening. “There is no point spending too much time honing your wok in Altenberg. What really counts is that you are extremely good during the descent.” The only Austrian in the race prevented Stefan Raab from getting a place on the podium. Christian Clerici secured Silver. Joey Kelly won Bronze, but lost the title of most successful Wok sportsman of all time to Georg Hackl. But Joey was anything but sad: “Bronze is fantastic and Schorsch really is unbeatable.”

The four-man Wok World Championship “I still haven’t won the four-man Wok World Championship. And I desperately want to”, declared Stefan Raab prior to the competition. Alas, it was not to be. Coming second last, he was never going to be satisfied, shaking his head: “We were just really unlucky – and were confronted with numerous problems.” The battle for a podium place was staged by others: the “Golden Wok” team around former bobsleigh pilot Christoph Langen really came up trumps with two error-free runs and first place. Langen: “We would like to thank our superb Wok technician, Bernd Steinegger, whose day job involves looking after the bobsleighs of the German national team. He performed miracles here.” Also receiving “World Champion Wok” Gold were professional sportspeople Georg Hackl, Sven Hannawald and Co. Bronze went to “TV Wok” presenters Jürgen Milski and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, TV judge Alexander Hold and television chef Ralf Zacherl.