In retrospective, this whole thing started way before we thought it had. In 2010, Benjamin Lienhart started his career in triathlon. Soon Benjamin (then 13) was approached by one of the internationally most renowned Austrian sports doctors, who also at the time was looking for a possibility to sharpen his profile in the world of sports. To help the doctor do just that, and to help the athlete professionalise his environment, this was the first time we were being called to action - almost three years before 1st MILE was born.
In 2012, we were approached by someone who works with young kart racers. They wanted us to help them develop their physical and mental skills. After an initial setup of the cooperation between all parties and a good kick-off, we decided that in the field of young talents in sports there was some serious work to be done. And thus we founded 1st MILE in early 2013, a roof under which we could get to work: to promote young talents.
One of the key findings we had going into all of this was, that, in the search of excellence of the highest order, the existing structures (in Austria, where our initial focus lay) didn’t really work in favour of athletes. The main reason for this was that those structures operate in a way that takes funding and distributes it with little to no focus on individual needs. Fair as that may seem from a perspective focussing on equality, it does little to produce an actual fair distribution of support for the single athlete, simply because the needs are very different and what helps one greatly, may do nothing for another. And it most certainly doesn’t produce greatness, because everything gravitates towards the middle ground. Hence this method produces mediocrity.
What we also found out is, that when you challenge the status quo of existing structures, these don’t especially like parts of their views and methods questioned (and who does anyway, honestly). So we were met, in part, with a bit of a headwind. Nonetheless, we took what we found in the world of sports, made sense of it all and created a concept. Said concept was basically to gather the best people and ideas of the respective fields needed for each individual athlete to develop their gifted talent. We decided to be of service, wherever our ideas and action was welcome.
In 2014 we had a good setup in working with the Speedworld Academy and their young kart racers, among which were talents like Lukas Dunner, Ferdinand Habsburg, Max Hofer or Mick Wishofer.
Also we were successful working in triathlon with Benjamin. That gave us the confidence to give away a scholarship for Sara Skardelly, who went on to become 12th in the youth olympics.
In 2015 we decided to put all our efforts into the work with individual athletes. This gave us the freedom to pursue our convictions to the degree we felt necessary to reach our goals: have our athletes reach their goals. We kept our focus on motor racing and triathlon, as well as working with the best people in their fields. It was also the year we first left our continent to support Ferdinand Habsburg in his endeavour to race the Toyota Racing Series (TRS) in New Zealand, which he finished as 4th overall.
Benjamin found out at the end of his season that he had competed (and won) in his last two races of 2015 with a stress fracture in his foot, which led to him entering a two-year hiatus from competition, in favour of orientation and renewing his physical foundation to re-emerge into competition in 2018 and lay the groundwork for his goal: the 2024 olympics.
For our other athletes, 2016 was very much about competition, as Lukas Dunner took the overall win in the FIA CEZ Junior karting championship. He also prepared, together with Lechner Racing, for his first outings in the Formula 4 car.
Mick Wishofer finished his last season of kart racing before entering the cars world and Ferdinand once more went to New Zealand for the TRS.
2017 saw Lukas enter the world of single seater racing, competing in 3 championships with 45 races all over Europe and Asia. That plus additional testing made for a packed season.
Ferdinand had one of his most memorable moments in Macau, literally driving the wheels off of his car and still finishing 4th. He also went on to fetch his first F3 win battling the likes of Lando Norris in Spa.
In 2018 Ferdinand went to race the Daytona 500 in the Jota backed car of Jackie Chan DC racing team. Lukas got his first seat in an LMP3 outfit and in his very first race finished on P2.
Benjamin went pro and became part of the Pro Team Mohrenwirt.
That year was also when we “went international” and took up work with an athlete from another country for the first time: Spanish racer Marta Garcia joined 1st MILE and not only qualified for the first ever season of the W-Series, but managed to score a win, 3 podiums and 4th place overall in the 2019 season this revolutionary new racing series.
2019 was also when Benjamin rose to new strength, took several podium positions and class wins in international competition.
Lukas got his first pole position in single seater racing and consistently took podium positions.
He also competed in the F3 world cup in Macau, took two LMP3 wins and scored a 7th place in his first LMP2 race. On top of that, he took up rallying in a Skoda Fabia R5 car supported by Austrian rallye legends Ilka Minor (co-driver) and Andreas Aigner.
2020 was of course when a lot of things changed when the world was met with a thing called Covid-19. And to change we had too, like everyone else we had to find new ways to work.
And we were introduced to the field of e-Sports too, as counsel for Jarno Opmeer, a young racer entering the Formula 1 esports racing world, which he went on to win overall.
With our (as much as everyone else’s) radius of action heavily limited, we were also given the time to enter a phase of orientation.
We emerged from it in 2021 with a clear vision of what we are able to, and want to, offer the world. The condensate of all we have been pursuing is that success is not a certain result, but it is indeed an attitude. It is the choice of love over fear. Sound esoteric? Maybe.
In education systems, health systems, economies and particularly within high-performance sports, we overwhelmingly find models and patterns which science has disproved decades ago. Military structures and concepts still prevail in our schools and universities. Sports in many countries still function through cadre/squad-systems, which are known to produce uniformity rather than individuality. These approaches have emerged from certain periods of time and they were valuable within those times and societal structures, but they are not an answer for today’s problems anymore. They do not develop individual talent, they suppress it and let it wither away.
1st MILE shall help people develop their talent, their gift, their vocation. Be it in the context of sports, economy, education or health. We want to offer our experience and expertise to support people define their goals based on what is of value to them, as well as a way to reach them.
“Talent is not something you are (or are not) born with” - Prof. K. Anders Ericcson.
If you dare to find out, you can reach out to us to find out what it can mean for your situation and goals as an athlete, individual, company or any other number of people. Feel free to contact us and we’ll see if and what kind of cooperation we can offer you.
