Rziha completed a law degree at the University of Vienna and then worked as an independent lawyer in Mödling, his birthplace. In 1904 he took part in a toboggan race in Mürzzuschlag for the first time, the first ever Nordic Games . Rziha remembered this competition in 1947, which was won by a Mürzzuschlag athlete named Pilgerdorfer: “It was a strange race and went about 400–500 m over a steep meadow in individual runs with 4 or 5 applicants each. “In the years that followed, the Mödlinger competed in several national toboggan competitions, such as the race for the challenge prize for the golden toboggan on the Präbichl , which has meanwhile been synonymous with an Austrian championship. Rziha won this competition in 1910 and thus achieved the national title. At this time, regular competitions took place in Styria for the first time, some of which he won. In 1912 Rziha fell ill, had an operation and then ended his sporting career.
Already during his active career, Adolf Rziha was active as a sports writer and in 1908 published the book Der Rodelsport , which he himself primarily regarded as a teaching course, "on the hand of which a real learning of the sport is possible". Furthermore, its compilation had the aim of attracting more followers to the discipline. Rziha's other services to tobogganing were the founding of the Anninger toboggan club in 1907 and the introduction of various innovations in tobogganing - he helped, for example, to switch from wooden to steel toboggans. In addition, the Mödlinger was a member of the Austrian Toboggan Association until his death in 1962 .
literature
Bert Isatitsch (Ed.): 100 Years of Rodelsport , self-published, Liezen 1983, pp. 82–84.
Individual evidence
↑ Der Anninger - hiking and sport on anninger.heim.at. “On January 23, 1907, the Anninger toboggan club was founded. […] Co-founder of the tobogganing club was the lawyer Adolf Rziha (Rzhia?), Who became the Austrian toboggan champion in 1910 and wrote a book Der Rodelsport . "
Austria
